


i fall, you and i collide

by Drachesoul



Category: K-pop, Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, F/F, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-02-22 15:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 72,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22518367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drachesoul/pseuds/Drachesoul
Summary: Kang Seulgi is not a delinquent. Strange things just seem to happen when she's around. She's been managing to lay low and not attract attention at her latest school, but that's about to change.Percy Jackson! AU with Red Velvet. Eventual Seulrene, sort-of enemies to lovers. Co-starring a bunch of other idols as well.
Relationships: Bae Joohyun | Irene/Kang Seulgi
Comments: 55
Kudos: 400





	1. In Which Kang Seulgi Gets Kidnapped

Kang Seulgi was _not_ a juvenile delinquent.

Sure, there was that one time in fifth grade when her class toured a dance studio in Seoul and it somehow caught on fire the next day, burning the entire building to ash.

And okay, _maybe_ she was the one everyone thought was responsible for that freak stage accident her sophomore year in high school that nearly flattened the girl who had gotten cast to play the lead in _Romeo and Juliet._

But she didn’t have anything to do with these incidents. Honestly.

Seulgi was just a teenage girl with ADHD and a deep love of dancing and drawing. She spent her time sitting outside sketching the scenery of Seoul and thinking up the next song to choreograph a dance to. Contrary to what the entire student body believed, she wasn’t a magnet for bad luck. Strange things just seemed to happen whenever she was around.

Of course try telling that to the principles of the last five schools she’d attended. One of them _still_ hadn’t grown all his hair back.

Her parents had tried everything, but they were running out of options. Seulgi had a reputation and the list of schools that would take her in was dwindling fast.

So it was with a heavy heart and empty pockets that they sent her off to a private boarding school in Gangnam, the only school that was confident in their abilities to keep Seulgi’s “ _chaotic tendencies”_ under control.

Which, now that she looked back on it, they didn’t do a half bad job. Of course things still went to shit. But this time she lasted a solid four months.

XXX

The day everything changed for Seulgi started out like any other. She marched into the dance studio that morning at half past six to go over the choreography her class had learned yesterday. There was a solo section up for grabs and Seulgi was gunning hard to get the part.

She had to, especially when she would be forced to dance against the likes of other girls like Chungha, SinB and Soyeon for the opportunity. All three other girls were fantastic dancers but she’d be damned if she wouldn’t try her hardest to beat them out. Kang Seulgi was no backup dancer.

The fact that Kang Seulgi harbored a hidden competitive streak was not lost on her coach. Hyoyeon was once a main dancer for a girl group and after the group disbanded she managed to land a position teaching at one of the city’s most prestigious schools. She appreciated talent and hard work, traits Seulgi understood and took advantage of whenever possible.

Seulgi knew that Hyoyeon had a habit of coming into the studio a few hours before class every day so she tried her best to sync up her schedule in order to grab some one on one time with her coach. To “build rapport” as some people said.

Not that it helped much. Hyoyeon was a nice enough woman but she always seemed to pass over Seulgi in favor of one of the other students. Chungha was a particular favorite of the coach’s, and even though this upcoming solo part was of a style Chungha wasn’t used to dancing Seulgi just knew that Hyoyeon would end up picking her.

Still, when her coach breezed into the studio at 6:45 on the dot Seulgi greeted her with a polite bow and started asking for her advice on how to approach a certain move they’d learned the previous day. Maybe one day Hyoyeon would realize her talent.

“Coach, I heard the auditions for the solo part were going to be held later,” Seulgi casually brought up as the two of them settled into their pre-dance stretching routine.

Hyoyeon raised an eyebrow at Seulgi, easily settling into a side split to work her thigh muscles. “About that, I was thinking about scrapping that section entirely. Something about it doesn’t quite sit right with the choreo we’ve created already.”

No! She couldn’t do that! Seulgi had ben working her butt off for the last two weeks, ever since the announcement came out that there would be a solo audition. “Please don’t do that, Coach. We’ve all been working really hard.”

Seulgi thought if she made it seem like everyone else had been practicing for the audition maybe Hyoyeon would decide to keep the part. No one had, of course. For everyone else dance was just a fun, easy elective.

But for Seulgi it was the only time she truly felt at home in her body. She wasn’t trying to solve difficult math problems or focus on reading books in English, neither of which her brain seemed to appreciate. Whenever she had to sit down and pay attention, her brain would manage for about two minutes before flying off on some unrelated tangent. It didn’t help that the words on the page would sometimes appear to rearrange themselves into strange combinations. At this point Seulgi thought she probably had undiagnosed dyslexia too.

Hyoyeon shot her a look and sighed at the earnest expression on Seulgi’s face. She liked the passion the younger girl had for dance, it reminded her of herself back in her trainee days. But Hyoyeon wasn’t being paid to recognize talent, she was getting paid to hold the hands of these spoiled rich kids and teach them enough to dance at a passable level for the annual showcase.

“I just don’t know if we’ll have enough time to fit a solo dance break into our number. Especially considering the showcase is in less than two months.”

Seulgi visibly deflated. All that hard work over the last month, completely wasted. She knew in the end she’d probably lose out on the solo to Chungha or SinB, but at least until now she could operate under the _illusion_ of getting a solo part.

Seulgi suddenly couldn’t stomach being in the dance studio. She was too angry. How dare Hyoyeon hype up the possibility of a solo dance break and then cancel it out of the blue with such a lame excuse? In the back of her head there was a tiny Seulgi who tried to remind her about keeping her emotions in check and laying low at this school. This place was nice and she wanted to be able to last out the entire year here without any major incidents. Her parents had suffered enough to send her here, she couldn’t ruin it now. But the larger part of her head was filled with righteous indignation. After all, she was just a sixteen-year-old girl who had just been told that all her effort was going to go to waste.

“Forgive me for being so brazen, Coach but that’s absolute horseshit,” Seulgi said.

Hyoyeon frowned but there appeared to be a small glint of respect in her eyes as she addressed Seulgi. She was the kind of woman who could appreciate someone with a little spine. “Watch your language, Kang.”

“I’m sorry, but how could you just up and _cancel_ the solo audition? I’ve been working for the last month on it!” Seulgi seethed. “And I’ve been working enough to know that there’s definitely enough time to work in a solo dance break.”

If this were any other dance studio Hyoyeon probably would have caved and agreed with her. But this was a school and there was so much more going on behind the scenes, things Seulgi wouldn’t know. The amount of politics and ass-kissing that had to be done at this school was ridiculous, so when one parent complained about something Hyoyeon had to roll over and accept it.

“I’m sorry, Seulgi but this is out of my hands.” Hyoyeon sympathized with Seulgi, she really did. Hell, she was planning on quitting her job here at the end of the school year, maybe she’d look up and recruit Seulgi for her own studio. The girl certainly had talent. “My decision is final. I’m cancelling the solo audition and we’ll proceed with our current group number as it is.”

Seulgi knew that there was nothing she could have done to dissuade her coach, but she was still thrumming with anger. “Someone complained, didn’t they? And you’re just going to give them what they want, right Coach? It’s shameful!”

Hyoyeon stood up. There was only so much bold anger she could take from one of her students. “Do I need to remind you of your place, Miss Kang?”

It registered in the back of Seulgi’s head that she was in major trouble. Hyoyeon only used her students’ last names if they were being rude and disrespectful.

“You should listen to her, Coach Kim. I’m sure Seulgi knows a lot about shame. Imagine having to bankrupt your parents in order to afford this school because it’s the only one that would accept her with all the black marks on her record.”

Seulgi stiffened. She knew that voice, and she tried her hardest to avoid it whenever possible. She’d even moved around her class schedule in order to avoid being placed in classes with the other girl. Generally Seulgi tried to ignore it whenever people would make cutting remarks about her appearance or her sense of style. Kids were assholes. Rich kids were worse. And there, leaning against the door frame with her arms folded was the worst of the worst. Bae Joohyun.

As always, Joohyun was clad in the latest and trendiest fashion. She could afford all the newest fashion, like most of the other students she was supposedly the daughter of some rich oil magnate. Her long black hair, which could usually be seen flowing freely down her back, was tied up in a neat ponytail. Seulgi was surprised to see her so far from her usual hunting grounds. As captain of the school’s varsity volleyball team Joohyun could usually be seen with a pack of similarly minded girls, picking on the less fortunate and stunning everybody she met with her beauty.

Seriously, Seulgi didn’t know _how_ Joohyun got so lucky with her genetics. The girl was gorgeous. Pale white skin, deep brown eyes and glossy black hair. Both male and female students alike were obsessed with Joohyun, and you were either lucky enough to walk with her squad or unlucky enough to get harassed by said squad. There was no middle ground.

“What do you want, Joohyun?” Seulgi snapped. She was in no mood to deal with the older girl.

“Ooh, someone has a bit of bite to them today,” Joohyun responded dryly, staring at her immaculately done nails with disinterest. “You know I think this is the first time I’ve seen you without your tail tucked between your legs, Kang.”

“Joohyun”, Hyoyeon warned. “If all you’re here to do is insult my students I suggest you leave.”

“Sorry Coach Kim,” Joohyun said, though her voice wasn’t exactly respectful. Joohyun was never outright rude to any of the school’s teachers, but she didn’t exactly seem to respect any of them either. Must have come from her upbringing as an heiress. Of course this school didn’t do anything to temper her personality. Nearly everyone here was related to someone influential. Seulgi wondered if there was a mandatory class all the rich kids had to take that taught them how to be assholes. She could see the syllabus now: Lesson One- How to look down on Poor People.

Joohyun hadn’t left yet though, which made Seulgi suspicious.

“Seriously, what are you doing here, Joohyun? Don’t you have some poor freshman to intimidate?” Seulgi grabbed her bag, ready to excuse herself from this conversation.

Joohyun smirked, pushing herself off the doorframe and pushing her hair behind one ear in a way that made Seulgi pause with how gorgeous even that one mundane action was. “Coach Kim, if you’re done being lectured by Welfare Girl-“

“Joohyun!”

“-Seulgi,” she amended reluctantly. “the principal wants to see her in his office.”

Seulgi narrowed her eyes.

“So are you done complaining yet, Kang?” Joohyun plowed right through Hyoyeon’s protests. “I have practice in twenty minutes, so don’t make me wait too long.”

Seulgi was sick of Joohyun’s entitled behavior. Slinging her bag over her shoulder she bowed to Hyoyeon and stormed out of the dance studio with Joohyun on her heels. As soon as they were out of earshot Seulgi rounded on the shorter girl. “What the hell is your problem?”

Joohyun didn’t back down though, instead drawing herself up, her warm brown eyes hardening into a stare so frigid that Seulgi instinctively stepped back out of fear. In the morning light it seemed like something dangerous lurked beneath Joohyun’s carefully crafted façade.

“My problem is that I’m being forced to escort you to the principal’s office at seven in the morning. I’m not some messenger pigeon,” Joohyun growled.

“No one’s making you do it,” Seulgi shot back, turning away from Joohyun and walking down the hall. “I know the way.”

“I’m sure you do,” Joohyun said blithely, adjusting her grip on the stack of books she was carrying. “But unlike you I’d rather not get in trouble if I can help it.”

They passed by several classrooms and Seulgi made a pit stop at her locker to drop off her dance bag. The two of them didn’t talk at all, Seulgi doing her best to not even look at the other girl. It didn’t last long though.

“So what did you do this time?” Joohyun’s comment carried an underlying insult. As though Seulgi had done something to get herself in trouble with the principal.

“Why does everyone assume it’s something _I’ve_ done? Does no one think I’m capable of being called to the office for something positive?” Seulgi muttered under her breath.

“No.” Crap. She must have spoken loudly enough for Joohyun to hear her. Seulgi huffed and didn’t bother responding to the other girl.

As they passed by the auditorium, the doors swung open, causing the two girls to freeze in their tracks. Animosity set aside for a brief moment, Seulgi and Joohyun shared a look and turned in the direction of the open doors.

“Hello?” Seulgi called out. It was strange. The auditorium had been closed to the student body for the entire year. Officially it was because the entire area was in the process of getting remodeled, but that didn’t stop the rumor mill from running. Seulgi had heard everything from safety code violations to a recent rumor that the entire auditorium was haunted.

At the moment the latter seemed the most likely.

As if she didn’t have control of her own body, Seulgi took a few steps toward the dark room. “What are you doing?” came Joohyun’s voice, and was Seulgi imagining things or was that a _tremor_ in the older girl’s voice?

“Is anyone there?” Seulgi called again. She paused when she felt a small hand close around her wrist, looking down to see Joohyun attached to her. The look Joohyun shot her was full of venom, just daring her to take another step forward.

Seulgi was defiant though, and she shook her arm to dislodge Joohyun’s grip. Full of curiosity she took the last few steps and walked inside the abandoned auditorium.

The first thing she noticed was that there had been absolutely no remodeling done on the auditorium. It looked like someone had tried to start something because there were a few wooden supports wrapped around the columns flanking the stage but other than that everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. The only light came from the hallway outside.

Seulgi ran her fingers over the dusty armrests as she slowly made her way to the stage. The entire place smelled musty and stale and _unnatural_. Behind her, Joohyun stifled a sneeze and Seulgi stopped, realizing that instead of leaving, Joohyun had followed her.

Approaching the stage, Seulgi easily pulled herself up and stood up to take a look around her. She imagined what this place used to look like, with blazing spotlights and crowds cheering. It would have been amazing to dance on a stage like this. Seulgi found herself unconsciously beginning to hum the first few notes of the song she’d been practicing.

“What are you doing?” Joohyun hissed. “We’re not supposed to be in here.”

“I didn’t ask you to follow me,” Seulgi responded, testing the stage floor with her feet to see if It was safe enough to walk around on. Satisfied that she wouldn’t cause the stage to break and drop her down into the orchestra pit she began swaying to the music playing in her head.

Joohyun opened her mouth to retort when all of a sudden the doors to the auditorium slammed shut, blanketing both of them in darkness. BAM.

The sound made both of them jump, and Seulgi couldn’t help the chuckle that threatened to burst out when she heard Joohyun make an undignified squeak. She pulled out her cellphone and shook it twice, activating the flashlight function.

Now that the only visible light was coming from her phone the whole auditorium took on a much more spooky atmosphere.

“Is anyone there?” Seulgi repeated herself, trying not to let her voice shake. Maybe the student body was right about it being haunted. Whoever had closed the doors on them was probably still around. She shone the light around until it landed on Joohyun, who squinted her eyes at the bright light. “Is this your doing, Joohyun?”

“Yes, this is totally a prank,” Joohyun bit back, and Seulgi couldn’t detect any untruthfulness in her voice. In fact, the older girl seemed frightened herself.

“Why don’t you have a cell phone?” was Seulgi’s next question when she realized she was giving off the only source of light.

“I left it in my room,” Joohyun replied, joining her up on the stage.

 _Thud._ They jumped at the sudden sound, Seulgi wildly swinging her cell phone around in the direction of the noise. It had come from their right, towards the back of the stage.

Maybe it was the wind, Seulgi tried to reason with herself in order to calm her fraying nerves. Never mind the fact that this was a closed auditorium with no access to the outside. Or maybe one of those shoddy support beams fell. Seulgi could feel Joohyun pressing closer to her.

There was another thud, this time on the other side of the room, toward the closed doors. What sounded like several sets of footsteps began approaching them, on both sides of the aisle. This was getting a little too serial-killer like for Seulgi. She’d seen the movies, if they stayed still any longer one or both of them would end up dead. The pragmatic part of her brain hoped they’d go after Joohyun first. _The pretty girl is always the first one to go._

“Look at what we have here,” came a deep voice. Seulgi shone her flashlight in the direction of the voice and it fell upon a shadowy figure. A large boy stepped further into the light and Seulgi sighed at the familiar face.

“Minjun, what the fuck?” Behind Joohyun, someone else leapt onto the stage, the force of which dislodged one of the support beams, causing it to crash to the floor. Where Minjun was, Seulgi knew his twin brother wasn’t far behind.

Both of them were _actual_ delinquents. The only reason they managed to stay in school without getting expelled was because their dad was some big-shot politician. Seulgi saw them frequently in detention, and this was exactly the kind of bullshit they’d pull.

“Renjun,” Seulgi greeted the other boy as he stepped into her line of vision. Who else could it be? Renjun loomed over Joohyun as he roughly shoved her away from Seulgi. Minjun jumped up onto the stage too and plucked Seulgi’s cellphone out of her hand, tossing it carelessly to the side. “What do you two Neanderthals want?”

“You’re lucky she needs you alive,” Minjun said, the strange statement causing Seulgi to start freaking out a bit. This had to be some kind of prank, right?

He moved into Seulgi’s personal space as he leaned down, his head mere inches from her face. Seulgi thought she must have been imagining the malevolent red glare that burned into her soul.

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little bit of fun first,” came Renjun’s response from behind her.

Warnings were exploding in Seulgi’s head. She couldn’t see much of anything, Minjun had taken care of that by tossing her phone away. Belatedly she thought about Joohyun and for a second she found herself worrying about the older girl. Joohyun had seemed just as surprised by what was happening, which cleared her of any suspicion.

Minjun had grabbed ahold of her wrists and though she fought to free herself he seemed to be unfazed by her attempts. Seulgi flashed back to middle school when she took a self-defense class for the first time. What had her teacher taught her about situations like this? If they wouldn’t let her go and she couldn’t break free she needed to…

“You should really think before you go any further,” she warned. She had been taught to make them doubt their actions. Psychological warfare could be useful in some situations. Seulgi only hoped Minjun and Renjun had enough brain cells between the two of them to understand. “You two haven’t done anything criminal _yet,_ ” she made sure to put emphasis on the word ‘yet’. “Is it really worth risking your futures to do something this unwise?”

“Just shut up,” Renjun said behind her, and Seulgi could almost see him rolling his eyes. Minjun shoved Seulgi and she tripped into Renjun’s grasp. She recoiled as best she could with her limited range of movement, there was a stench rolling off Renjun in waves. It smelled like wet earth and body odor. Not your typical teenage boy smell.

“Seriously, shut your mouth,” Minjun added as his brother secured his grip on Seulgi. Both of them had forgotten about Joohyun, who in the commotion had seemingly disappeared from sight. As he leaned in once again there was no mistaking the red glow coming from his eyes. “You know if she didn’t absolutely _need_ you alive I’d be tearing holes in your pretty little face by now.”

His voice was no longer completely human. As he spoke his voice distorted until Seulgi heard nothing more than a sibilant hiss.

It woke some sort of primal survival instinct in Seulgi, one that told her she was in serious danger. Whatever Minjun and Renjun were, it wasn’t human.

“Why are you doing this?” Seulgi hated how helpless her voice sounded, but it was the truth. She was trapped with nowhere to go and no one to help her.

“Heard there were a couple of demigods trying to hone in on someone’s signal,” Minjun sneered. Seulgi gagged; his breath smelled like rotting meat. “And what do you know, they were right.”

Demigods? Signal? None of this made sense to Seulgi. All she could really think about was how much her arms were hurting from being pulled back by Renjun. It was agony, and Seulgi could feel tears prickling at the edge of her vision.

And then - just like that - the pain was gone.

Renjun had let go. Seulgi whirled around to see where he might have gone. Minjun had backed off as well, and the boy was now staring warily at the auditorium door. And though Seulgi couldn’t see, she could hear and what she heard was someone pounding on the closed doors.

“Damn,” he swore. Jerking his head towards his twin he muttered and order to Renjun. “Go.”

Seulgi heard him jump off the stage and walk back up the aisles towards the door. Minjun’s red-eyed glare bored into her. “Huh. Maybe someone _does_ care about you after all.”

“Seulgi-ah!” a muffled voice called. And strangely enough it sounded like…”Seulgi, are you in there still?”

Minjun grabbed her roughly and threw her away from the door, sending her crashing into an old rotting set piece that crumbled under her weight. The impact knocked the breath out of Seulgi. She watched, horrified as the two pinpoints of red that were Minjun’s eyes began getting bigger.

He was already taller than her to begin with, but somehow he seemed to be getting even bigger until he towered above Seulgi. The glow from his eyes intensified, allowing Seulgi to see the true horror of his transformation. Minjun’s muscles bulged and what looked suspiciously like fur was sprouting from his face. His nails split apart to reveal claws breaking through the skin.

But by far the worst part was watching his face blur away, almost like someone had tossed acid on it. A snout began to grow and suddenly he wasn’t Minjun anymore. He had turned into a snarling _wolf._

Seulgi screamed. The pounding at the doors became louder. Minjun casually leapt off the stage on still transforming legs. He howled, and the answering reply told Seulgi that Renjun must have also changed and was waiting by the door to ambush whoever broke through.

She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping this was all just some sort of nightmarish fever dream. She _really_ didn’t want to be responsible for killing her savior. What would she tell the authorities? I swear officer, they were murdered by werewolves.

And then the doors buckled inward and all but exploded into splinters, sending both Minjun and Renjun sprawling back.

Light flooded Seulgi’s vision and a wave of pure force hit her, slamming her further against the wall. Her body groaned in protest. Two figures strode inside, their features obscured by the light.

Seulgi could smell smoke as one figure strode down the aisle, her entire body giving off a rolling aura of power. Flames licked at her heels, setting the dusty seats on fire.

The other figure wasn’t far behind, and as Seulgi’s vision began to adjust, her jaw dropped.

“Get your filthy paws off Seulgi.”

Seulgi could recognize that voice anywhere. “ _Joohyun!”_

“No, moron, it’s a dancing bear.” Even though they were across the room from each other, Seulgi could almost see the exasperated look on Joohyun’s face. She turned to address the girl with her. “Sooyoung, take care of Renjun.”

The girl, Sooyoung, Seulgi reminded herself, nodded briskly and stalked towards the seemingly unconscious werewolf-boy. As the fire spread further along the rows of seats, Seulgi could see that Sooyoung carried what looked like a small, compact submachine gun. Her eyes widened. What the hell was that girl doing with a gun? She wasn’t about to shoot Renjun, was she?

Seulgi shakily got to her feet as Sooyoung prodded Renjun with the barrel of her gun. Confident that he was out cold she turned to Joohyun and nodded. That settled it, Seulgi thought. This had to be a fever dream. Maybe she’d eaten something bad for dinner last night. That was the only viable explanation for everything. There was no way two girls could have blown up the solid oak doors to the auditorium. As she tripped over a splinter of wood however, she thought differently. _This seems way too real to be fake._

“Gods, Seulgi,” Joohyun’s gaze followed Seulgi as she stepped carefully off the stage. “What did you do to piss them off like that?”

Seulgi couldn’t help the indignant growl from coming out of her mouth. “Oh, so this is _my_ fault?”

Seulgi stopped beside Joohyun and gestured at the wreckage of the auditorium with one hand. The fire was still spreading too. Joohyun scoffed, bending down to examine the crumpled body of Minjun before her. His fur was singed, but Seulgi could hear him breathing. “Huh. Still alive.”

Seulgi gaped at Joohyun. The older girl sounded so calm it was worrisome. How could she be calm in the face of a situation like this?

She felt the beginnings of a headache forming behind her temples and Seulgi slumped in one of the chairs that had been spared the wrath of the spreading flames to get a hold of her emotions. She heard Joohyun make a sound of disgust and Seulgi could almost see the other girl rifling through the torn remains of Minjun’s clothes. A voice in the back of her head told her Joohyun was probably making sure he didn’t have any other weapons on him.

“Something tells me you have way too much experience dealing with these werewolf things,” Seulgi said. She paused, waiting for the inevitable insult from Joohyun but there was nothing. Sooyoung was still standing sentinel over the body of the other wolf hybrid, out of Seulgi’s line of sight. “Still, I suppose I need to thank you for saving me Joo-”

“FUCK!”

Seulgi’s eyes snapped open in time to see a blur of black hair and expensive clothes fly past her, crashing into a row of seats in front of her. As she got up, a furry paw grabbed her by the collar.

“You won’t get me that easily,” Minjun dragged Seulgi by the collar, his claws pricking uncomfortably at her exposed neck. He turned her head towards the wreckage where Joohyun had landed. “Just give up. Before someone else dies.”

Seulgi heard the sounds of fighting coming from her left and deduced that Renjun must have woken up as well and had engaged Sooyoung.

Seulgi’s heart stopped. She waited and prayed to see if there was any movement from where Minjun had thrown Joohyun but she saw nothing. He laughed and Seulgi was filled with a sudden rage. With strength she didn’t know she possessed she somehow managed to wrestle herself free from Minjun’s grasp. Seulgi collapsed by the splintered wreckage of the auditorium seats and frantically began sifting through bits of wood.

She found Joohyun lying motionless, blood trickling from underneath her hairline, staining her pale skin.

Seulgi used what remained of her strength to haul the older girl out of the rubble. But she soon found herself at the mercy of Minjun again once he had shaken off the blow Seulgi had given him. Joohyun’s body slumped to the floor.

“You see? Stop fighting us before the other girl dies too.”

He reached for her with oafish paws and attempted to drag her out into the aisle again, but Seulgi stayed frozen in place, her eyes fixed firmly on Joohyun.

Wisps of shadowy black energy were dancing all over her fancy clothes, and the air around Seulgi and Minjun began to press in on them. Seulgi was seized by the urge to run away but Minjun’s grip on her wouldn’t allow her. Joohyun was radiating some kind of power, a power that reminded Seulgi of death for some reason. Minjun narrowed his eyes, slowly relaxing his grip on Seulgi and backing away. He didn’t get far enough, however.

The wisps of energy coalesced into a beam and arced off Joohyun’s body to pound into Minjun. The sheer power of the strange beam forced him back into the nearest wall. He shook off the first assault, staggering to his feet only to be struck again. The whole auditorium shook.

Seulgi watched in horror as the dark energy crept toward her. She reatreated to the wall and nearly tripped over Minjun. The sight of him made her retch.

His body was still and this time Seulgi could see that he wasn’t breathing. His entire body had seemingly caved in on itself, the fur falling out in patches to reveal gray desiccated skin. Where life had flowed through his veins a second before there was nothing but a rank stillness. He was definitely dead this time.

Then Seulgi heard a soft groan and she looked up to see Joohyun gingerly making her way to her feet. She looked sickly, her usually pale skin looking unhealthily so. The older girl’s eyes met Seulgi’s for a brief second before she called out weakly for her partner. “Sooyoung?”

“I’m here, unnie,” came the exhausted response as Sooyoung limped toward Joohyun. She looked to be in better shape than Joohyun, though black blood stained her hair and clothes. Sooyoung approached Joohyun and carefully wrapped an arm around the other’s shoulders.

The fire was still spreading and had reached the stage. Smoke filled Seulgi’s lungs and she knew they had to get out of here as soon as possible.

“Sooyoung, go grab Yeri. We’re extracting sooner than I’d planned,” Joohyun leaned heavily on the other girl. “Get our portal ready.”

Sooyoung looked at Joohyun like she was crazy. “Unnie, you can barely stand.”

“Our mission was to get Yeri out safely, if the Sons of Lycaon are here other monsters won’t be far behind. Go.”

Sooyoung opened her mouth to argue more with Joohyun but a pointed look silenced her. She nodded stiffly and upon making sure Joohyun could stand on her own, stepped over the remains of the door and disappeared into the hallway.

Joohyun turned her attention to Seulgi. “I guess I’m taking you too, though how you managed to evade detection for so long I’ll never know.”

Joohyun coughed, and that jolted Seulgi out of her surprised state. She scurried over to Joohyun and wrapped an arm around the shorter girls waist to support her. Joohyun leaned into Seulgi’s embrace, and though her expression was serious her body betrayed just how exhausted she was.

Together they hurried as fast as they could out of the burning auditorium. The fire alarms began going off in the hallway as the fire engulfed the abandoned auditorium and slowly started to spread to the rest of the school.

Joohyun led them to a storage closet in front of the principal’s office as the student body began swarming around them in their hurry to get out of the building.

“Shouldn’t we be going with them?” Seulgi asked. Joohyun shook her head tiredly.

“They’re mortals. Where we see fire and dangerous wolf-men, they see nothing but a freak accident.” Joohyun’s words didn’t even have any bite to them anymore, which concerned Seulgi.

“Mortals? Joohyun what the hell are you talking about?”

Seulgi didn’t have time to press the older girl further, as Sooyoung joined them a minute later, dragging a sleepy-looking blonde girl behind her.

Joohyun waved a hand in front of the door and it opened with a creak. Seulgi gasped. Inside the otherwise normal looking janitor’s closet was a small pond with a waterfall. It looked completely out of place, with the water gurgling peacefully as it cascaded down the small waterfall.

“Sooyoung do you have the supplies?”

Sooyoung nodded and pulled a small glass prism out of her pocket, handing it to Joohyun along with a magnifying glass. Joohyun pulled herself free from Seulgi’s arms and stood shakily against the wall. She fiddled with the magnifying glass and prism until she managed to reflect a small rainbow onto the surface of the water.

Seulgi gasped when Joohyun put the prism back in her pocket, as somehow the rainbow stayed reflected. It shouldn’t be scientifically possible. But if today had taught her anything, a _lot_ had happened that wasn’t scientifically possible.

Joohyun tossed a strange gold coin into the water and the rainbow suddenly expanded. The water rippled and an ethereal silhouette appeared.

“Iris-nim.” Joohyun bowed awkwardly in respect, the action obviously causing her pain. The figure in the water looked at them with something akin to motherly concern.

“Bae Joohyun. I thought you weren’t planning on calling until next week.”

Joohyun jerked her head in Seulgi’s direction. “Something came up, Iris-nim.”

Seulgi found herself caught in the intense gaze of the woman in the water, and she felt as if her very existence was being judged.

“I see. And what of Yerim?”

Sooyoung dragged the blonde girl into view, who stifled a yawn. She must have been no older than fourteen. Sooyoung jabbed an elbow into her ribs and the girl started, seemingly realizing who she was standing in front of.

“Ah! Iris-nim!”

Iris gave Yeri an indulgent smile before turning back to Joohyun. “I’ll connect you with Camp Half-Blood. Do you need me to contact the infirmary as well to notify them of your arrival? You and Sooyoung look plenty worse for wear.”

“Please,” Joohyun sighed, massaging her right shoulder and wincing. “We took a beating. The Sons of Lycaon somehow caught onto Seulgi’s scent.”

Iris nodded seriously. Her reflection froze for a brief second while she connected them to Camp Half-Blood. Seulgi realized they had been put on hold and she had to stifle her laugh. Because of course they would be put on hold. Iris’s reflection rippled into view again a minute later. “Seungwan will be on standby with the rest of the medics for your arrival.”

“Thank the gods,” Joohyun said.

“There’s no need to praise me,” Iris chuckled, and Seulgi did a double take. Did she hear correctly? Iris was a god? Seulgi quickly ran through her lacking knowledge in mythology. Reflections, rainbows, messages. Joohyun had called the woman Iris. No. That was impossible…

“It looks like Seulgi unnie is catching on,” Yeri said, waving a hand in front of Seulgi’s blank face. “Will she be okay?”

Joohyun turned to look at Seulgi and for the first time she could remember, Joohyun smiled at her. “Eventually.”

“Is everyone ready?” Iris asked, looking at each of them in turn. Joohyun, Sooyoung, Yeri and Seulgi nodded and the goddess spread her arms outward, expanding the rainbow reflection even further.

What looked like a grove of trees flickered in the distance and Joohyun sighed with relief. She ushered Sooyoung and Yeri towards the portal. Sooyoung grabbed Yeri’s hand and guided the younger girl. Together they stepped into the pond and with a flash of rainbow light they disappeared.

Seulgi’s jaw dropped but she didn’t have time to process what she’d just seen because Joohyun had grabbed her hand and was tugging her towards the swirling portal.

“Have I died and gone to heaven?” she couldn’t help but ask. “Or are you taking me to hell?”

Joohyun looked back at her, eyebrow raised like she was about to insult Seulgi again. “I don’t need to go anywhere for eternal torture when I’ve already got you.”

Joohyun pushed her through the portal.

Seulgi felt as through she was flying, though all she could see around her were bright reflections and rainbows. She hurtled through the portal and was deposited roughly on the ground, where she swayed on her feet in a poor attempt to keep her balance.

She fell to her knees, stomach roiling. Ugh, she felt as though she had just gotten off a roller coaster. A gentle hand touched her shoulder and she looked up.

A pretty girl with short brown hair smiled down at her. She offered a hand to Seulgi and helped the girl to her feet. “The first time’s always the worst. Don’t worry, everything will stop spinning soon.”

“Will it?” was Seulgi’s weak response. She heard a sound next to her and saw Joohyun pop into existence. At least there was a familiar, if generally very rude, face.

Comforted by the fact that at least she wasn’t alone, Seulgi surrendered herself to the darkness that was creeping along the sides of her vision. She swayed and dropped to the ground.

The last thing she heard was the pretty girl’s indignant voice. “Irene, what the hell did you do to this poor girl?”

Joohyun’s response was tired. “Nothing you can’t fix, Seungwan.” 


	2. In Which Kang Seulgi Makes A Friend

Seulgi dreamed of death.

This wasn’t the first time that she’d had strange dreams, but there was something about this particular dream that was so _visceral_ she could almost feel the life draining out of her body.

She stood at the edge of a cliff watching as a battle unfolded below her. Steel rang against steel, arrows cut through the hazy sky and the air around her reeked of blood and other horrible smells.

It broke her heart to see so much death and destruction around her, and although she tried to move her body something rooted her firmly in place.

“We were too late,” Seulgi turned around to see Joohyun limping up to her, one hand barely putting pressure on the large gash in her stomach.

“Ssh, don’t talk. You’ll only make it worse,” Seulgi found herself saying. It was as if she was trapped in this vision, cursed to witness the events around her but unable to act.

“We’re not going to make it out of here alive anyway, Seul,” Joohyun smiled wryly. Seulgi was surprised at Joohyun’s casual use of her nickname. She didn’t even remember ever telling it to Joohyun. Not that she could ever picture her and Joohyun being civil to each other… _This must be in the future,_ she thought.

“I really thought we could do it,” Seulgi said, turning back to help Joohyun lie against a nearby tree.

Joohyun coughed weakly. “That’s the thing about the gods. They’re in it for the long game. And us? Their children? We’re just their pawns at most.”

Seulgi couldn’t bear to look at the carnage of the battlefield anymore so she sat down next to Joohyun, exhaustion flooding her body and causing her to lean her head against the trunk of the tree. Joohyun’s hand inched closer to hers.

“I’m sorry, Joohyun.”

Their fingers intertwined.

“Maybe next time things will go our way.”

Seulgi awoke with a start, Joohyun’s name on her lips.

XXX

“Whoa there! Hey, you’re okay, you’re safe.” Gentle hands pressed on Seulgi’s shoulders, guiding her back so she could rest on the soft pillows.

Seulgi groaned as pain lanced through her head. What on earth had happened? She vaguely remembered dreaming something horrible. The last thing she remembered was getting angry at Hyoyeon for cancelling the solo auditions, then Joohyun was there making fun of her. Then Minjun and Renjun had turned into werewolves.

“Oh my god I set the school on fire again!” Seulgi’s head dropped back and for the first time she actually bothered to look at her surroundings.

She appeared to be in some sort of makeshift hospital. White curtains surrounded her bed on either side, but there was an opening directly in front of her that allowed her to see several other teenagers bustling around the floor, carrying bandages and what looked like small squares of fudge on paper plates.

“Don’t worry. Fires, floods, earthquakes. Those are just occupational hazards of being a demigod.” A voice came from her left.

Seulgi turned and saw the pretty girl she’d met at the portal earlier approaching her bed, a square of fudge balanced precariously on top of an unopened bottle of water. “A what now?”

The girl, her name was Seungwan, Seulgi barely recalled, tilted her head quizzically, as if she couldn’t believe Seulgi could be that stupid. “Demigod. You know, half human, half god?”

“God?” Seulgi’s eyebrows shot up. Had she been kidnapped and taken to some kind of weird religious cult? Now that she thought about it she could definitely see Joohyun being a part of a group like that. They probably kidnapped poor people and sacrificed them or something.

Her thoughts must have translated to her body language because Seungwan quickly set down her items on the bedside table and sat on the edge of Seulgi’s bed.

“No, not God with a capital G,” she said hurriedly, making a placating gesture with her hands. “That’s delving a little too much into modern and ancient religions and everything. Gods as in those who rule over the sky and the sea. War, agriculture. Things like that.”

Seulgi didn’t look at all comforted by the explanation.

“Like the Greek gods?” Seungwan said, waiting to see if any recognition dawned on Seulgi’s face. “Does the name Hercules ring a bell? Demigods are the result of a god’s tryst with a mortal.”

“Are you insane?” Was Seulgi’s response. Seungwan blinked. “That’s impossible. There’s a reason it’s called Greek _mythology._ They’re all _myths._ ”

“Yes, and those werewolf boys you saw earlier were a figment of your imagination,” a familiar voice said condescendingly. Joohyun poked her head into Seulgi’s curtained-off area. “The gods are alive, and for a reason I cannot fathom they’ve deigned to bring you into this world.”

Seulgi stared at Joohyun. Seungwan stood up and rolled her eyes, gently pushing Joohyun back outside.

“Ignore Joohyun. She’s probably a little salty that you got tangled up in her perfectly planned out rescue operation. When we received intel that a young demigod had been discovered in Seoul, Joohyun and Sooyoung were sent to bring her back. We had no idea there were _two_ of you there.”

“Back up a bit, please. Joohyun said the gods were alive. But that’s impossible.”

Seungwan shook her head. “Is it? There’s thousands of years of history that say otherwise. Sure, there are different retellings of myth and the gods aren’t always called by the same names but they’re there. Even modern history is influenced by them.”

Seulgi still didn’t appear to believe her. “And demigods?”

“Sometimes a god will fall in love with a mortal and have a child. Kids with abilities and powers inherited from their godly parent. There are plenty of famous ones. George Washington, Ryan Reynolds. IU.”

Seulgi’s mouth dropped open. Joohyun stuck her head inside again. She had no doubt been listening in on their conversation the whole time.

“Yeah, and more often than not demigods start a bunch of bullshit. World War One and Two? All their fault. Some kids of Zeus and Poseidon had a problem with a child of Hades and caused one of the deadliest wars in human history.”

“I thought you were here to visit Sooyoung,” Seungwan interrupted. “If you’re going to be rude to my patient I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” 

Joohyun scowled. “Your soft-hearted approach to telling Seulgi she’s not human doesn’t seem to be working, _Wendy._ ”

“Oh bite me, _Irene,_ ” Seungwan shot back. Seulgi was impressed that the shorter girl could easily stand up to Joohyun. “Joohyun’s not wrong though. After World War Two ended, The Big Three swore an oath to never sire any more children.”

“The Big Three?” Seulgi couldn’t believe it but she was slowly started to get sucked into what Seungwan and Joohyun were talking about. After all, she’d exhausted all other options that explained the events of the last twenty-four hours. What remained had to be the most likely answer.

Joohyun stepped into the room and leaned against the wall. “Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. When the gods overthrew Kronos the three brothers drew lots to see who would rule where. Zeus drew dominion over the skies, Poseidon the seas and Hades the Underworld. Any children born from the three of them are usually stronger than other demigods.”

“Many people believe their children are too powerful. Too dangerous,” Seungwan shot Joohyun a pointed look and the older girl casually flipped her off.

“And wolf men aren’t dangerous?” Seulgi asked.

“The Sons of Lycaon are middling monsters at best,” Joohyun said lazily, much to Seulgi’s surprise. She considered those giant wolf twins middling monsters? Seulgi wondered what Joohyun considered to be an _actual_ threat.

“It’s not just children of the Big Three that monsters hunt as I’m sure you’re aware of by now,” Seungwan clarified. “All demigods give off a scent that attracts monsters. It’s supposed to get stronger as you age but for whatever reason you’ve managed to stay undiscovered.”

“You make us sound like we’re some type of delicacy,” Joohyun grumbled.

“The point is,” Seungwan ignored Joohyun’s barbed comment and turned back to face Seulgi. “When a demigod reaches a certain age and they start attracting monsters we send out people to find them and bring them here to Camp Half-Blood. Joohyun and her partner were sent to Seoul to find a girl named Yeri.”

Seulgi recalled the young blonde girl that Sooyoung had dragged through the portal. Yeri didn’t seem at all surprised by everything, she’d even recognized Iris and called her by name.

As if Joohyun could read her mind, she said, “ _Usually_ we’re dispatched with enough time to break the news to the kid gently, slowly introduce them to the world of the gods.”

“Unfortunately you weren’t that lucky,” Seungwan added. “At least you managed to get here in one piece.”

“Tragically,” Joohyun muttered. By now Seungwan had had enough and she escorted Joohyun out of Seulgi’s room with a muttered threat to not allow her to visit Sooyoung and Yeri if she kept up with her attitude. Joohyun slunk away, knowing Seungwan was capable of following through with her threats.

“I’m sorry about Joohyun,” Seungwan apologized, walking around the side of Seulgi’s bed, opening the bottle of water and handing it to Seulgi, who took it gratefully.

Seulgi laughed bitterly, “Please. This is how she normally is around me. I’ve gotten used to it.”

Seungwan shook her head. “Just because she’s a child of the Big Three it doesn’t give her the right to be rude.”

Seulgi wondered who Joohyun’s godly parent was. Judging by the powers she’d seen earlier though, she was confident she knew the answer. Seulgi looked at the fudge that was sitting on her bedside table. It gave off the most delicious smell. “Seungwan, what’s that?”

“Oh. That’s ambrosia. Supposedly it’s the food of the gods themselves. Gives the gods their immortality, or so the stories go. On us demigods though it serves as a healing treatment. You’ve been through a lot the last few hours, I didn’t know if you’d need it or not.”

The ambrosia seemed to call to Seulgi and she reached for it. “Is it okay for me to eat?”

Seungwan nodded. “Go ahead. Just don’t ask for any more of it. Ingesting too much will burn you from the inside out.”

Seulgi’s eyes bulged and she jerked her fingers back. “Maybe I’ll just leave it for now then.”

Seungwan chuckled.

Seulgi was suddenly struck with a thought. She didn’t know much about this new world she’d been tossed into but Seungwan seemed to be the knowledgeable type. “Seungwan, if it’s not too rude to ask, who’s your godly parent?”

Seungwan shrugged her shoulders, busying herself by taking Seulgi’s vitals and writing them down. “I don’t know. And before you ask why you’ll soon see that it’s not that uncommon of an occurrence here.”

Seulgi patiently sat still while Seungwan checked her breathing before she asked, “It’s not?”

“It’s probably a bit callous of me to say but most of the time the gods don’t take much of an interest in mortal affairs. I’ve been told that if you perform a great feat or succeed in a quest you’ll get the attention of your godly parent and they’ll claim you.” Seungwan looked out the window wistfully before shaking her head. “I digress though. I’ve been here four years now and I haven’t been claimed.”

Four years? Four years without knowing who your parent was must have been torture. And judging from what Seungwan said, this camp was probably full of people just like her. Seulgi thought it was amazing Seungwan didn’t sound bitter about the fact.

“But others have been?”

“It all depends. Actually when you arrived here Yeri was immediately claimed by her godly parent. I’ve had to tell myself after years of waiting that sometimes people are just lucky.” Seungwan caught onto the curious gleam in Seulgi’s eyes. “She’s a child of Hermes, by the way.”

Seulgi sympathized with Seungwan, she really did. It must be hard to see someone get claimed right off the bat. She awkwardly patted Seungwan’s shoulder in what she hoped was a sign of solidarity and the other girl gave her a small smile.

“But that’s enough about me and my sob story. I spent so long worrying about whose kid I was that I forgot that I needed to be Seungwan first. Not Seungwan, daughter of whoever. My deeds and personality are not solely based off whose blood runs through my veins.”

Seulgi agreed with her. It seemed awfully shallow to attribute someone’s entire being to the mere fact that they had godly blood. She imagined what it would be like if someone credited her parents for all the talent and passion she had for dancing. Thinking about it made her scowl.

“I see what you mean. I’d hate if someone praised my parents for my skills in art or dancing.”

Seungwan flashed her a smile so bright that Seulgi just knew that the two of them were meant to be friends. 

It turned out that Seungwan was a great conversationalist and Seulgi found herself enjoying the back-and forth banter between the two of them. Seungwan spent most of her time working as a medic with the sons and daughters of Apollo, who were naturally gifted in healing, and divided the rest of her free time helping the children of Dionysus and Demeter with the camp’s food supplies. Seulgi asked if maybe she thought her parent was one of those three gods and Seungwan responded with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders.

Joohyun popped her head in a couple of hours later saying that Director Kim wanted to see Seulgi as soon as she was mobile. Seulgi stifled a snort at the murderous look on the shorter girl’s face. She’d been forced not once but _twice_ in the last day to play messenger for Seulgi and it was probably eating her up inside.

Upon assuring Seungwan that she was feeling well enough to move around, the medic reluctantly allowed her to follow Joohyun to the large wooden cabin in the center of camp, on the condition that she got to go along too. Joohyun scowled but made no attempt to dissuade Seungwan.

Seulgi was glad to be out of the medical building to stretch her legs. Whatever healing magic had been done on her had mended the various scrapes and burns she’d sustained during the fight with Minjun and Renjun.

While they walked, Seungwan pointed things out to Seulgi. They passed what looked suspiciously like an obstacle course and Seulgi saw several demigods trying to scale a rock climbing wall. Her heart jumped in her chest when one of them lost his balance and nearly fell into the lava pit below. The only thing that saved him was a pair of sandals that sprouted tiny wings when he screamed its command word. His friends merely laughed.

“I feel like maybe I should have stayed back in Seoul,” she told Seungwan.

“It’ll be hard to get back there without a portal from Iris, unless you’re willing to front the thousand bucks for a plane ticket back,” Seungwan replied, waving hello to a group of demigods that were busy picking strawberries. Seulgi watched as one of them waved her hand over a patch of empty earth, and several vines sprouted from the ground, laden with fresh berries.

“Wait, what? Where exactly are we?” Seulgi thought they were still in Korea, how far was that portal?

Joohyun, who had been silent until now, piped up, “We’re just outside New York City. The seat of Mount Olympus changes with wherever the spirit of Western Civilization is strongest. Currently it’s here, in America.”

“Sooyoung made us all come up with English names one day after weapons practice,” Seungwan added. “Mine’s Wendy. Small, dark and broody over there is Irene.”

Seulgi _had_ always wanted to travel abroad and visit the States but never in a million years did she think things would unfold like this. She had to admit though, she liked the name Irene for Joohyun. It made her seem more approachable.

They approached the main building in the center of camp. It was by far the largest building around, and as they got closer Seulgi saw three people sitting around a card table playing poker.

One of them was a tall, muscular man in black shorts and a black sleeveless shirt. He narrowed his small eyes and growled menacingly at a pudgy older man wearing the ugliest Hawaiian t-shirt Seulgi had ever seen. The third player was none other than Yeri, who gave Seulgi a cheerful wave.

“I can’t believe you keep winning, it’s literally impossible for you to be doing this well,” he grumbled when the man in the Hawaiian shirt triumphantly threw down a royal flush.

“I’m a god, the cards do what I want them to do,” the man took a sip from his can of soda, noticing Seulgi and the others. “You’ve got a job to do though.”

The muscular man turned around and stood up, greeting Seulgi and thanking Joohyun for bringing her over. “So you’re the stray demigod Joohyun picked up.”

He looked over Seulgi with a shrewd gaze and nodded, seemingly satisfied with whatever he saw. “My name is Kim Jongkook, but you can call me Director Kim. I’m in charge of this camp, unofficially. Officially it’s my job to train you young demigods so you learn to come to terms with your power.”

“He does whatever I tell him,” the pudgy man said in a bored voice. He snapped his fingers and the cards shuffled themselves. “Your turn to deal, Cherry.”

Yeri opened her mouth as if to correct him but quickly thought better of it and grabbed the freshly shuffled deck of cards. “I don’t think I ever got to formally introduce myself either. I’m Kim Yerim, daughter of Hermes. You can call me Yeri.”

Seulgi noted the mischievous glint behind the blonde girl’s eyes and made a note to check her pockets whenever Yeri was around.

“Cherry here will escort you to the Hermes cabin,” the man in the Hawaiian shirt said. “All unclaimed demigods live there until they are claimed.” He shot a look at Seungwan. “Or aren’t.”

Seulgi felt a bubble of righteous anger simmering in her belly. How could this man be so flippant and rude? For a brief second she wondered if this man was Joohyun’s godly parent, they certainly had matching attitudes. She was about to say something but Seungwan stopped her.

“Don’t,” she whispered. “Not unless you want to find yourself splashing around in the ocean with flippers.”

The man looked at Seulgi and his eyes flashed a deep purple. Visions flashed through Seulgi’s mind. A young girl beating her head against a wall, her arms wrapped in a straitjacket. A sailor jumping overboard and turning into a dolphin. A fraternity full of college boys chugging alcohol dancing along to EDM music.

The name came unbidden to her lips. “Dionysus.”

The god scoffed, “Names have power, girl. I suggest you don’t throw them out so flippantly.” He drank the last few dregs of his soda and sighed. Snapping his fingers once again the soda can disappeared, to be replaced by a glass of wine.

The once clear blue skies suddenly darkened, and a rumble of thunder shook the camp. Dionysus looked up and said, “Sorry! Habit. One mistake, and I get stuck with babysitting duty for a century.” The glass of wine turned into another can of soda.

Director Kim shook his head at the god and gestured for Yeri to stand up. “Yeri, can you take Seulgi to the Hermes cabin and get her set up? Take Seungwan too, I have a private matter to discuss with Joohyun.”

The young girl nodded quickly, looking relieved. Seulgi could understand. Who would want to be stuck playing poker with an actual god? Yeri quickly ushered the two of them away from the main house and down a worn dirt path towards the cabins.

“Thank the gods, do you know how nerve-wracking it is to play with him? I’m certain he cheats but I’m not about to call him out on that.” Yeri shivered.

“Joohyun mentioned you were the person they were supposed to find in Seoul. How long have you known you were a demigod?” Seulgi asked.

Yeri gave a noncommittal grunt. “Couple of months? I didn’t believe them at first until Sooyoung-unnie set my curtains on fire when I called her an airhead. Things got pretty believable after that.”

Seulgi giggled. Yeri was certainly a confident young girl. Part of her wished she’d been able to get the soft introduction to the world of demigods like Yeri had. “At least you didn’t find out when your classmates turned into werewolves.”

“I heard about that,” Yeri stomped her foot. “Man I wish I could have been there for that. I would have loved to see Sooyoung-unnie and Joohyun-unnie fight.” 

Seulgi remembered the moment when they auditorium doors caved in and Joohyun and Sooyoung came bursting in like knights in shining armor. If the situation hadn’t been so serious she probably would have swooned.

“It _was_ pretty cool,” she admitted.

“Have no fear,” Seungwan said from behind them, “You’ll see them both in action when we play capture the flag in a few days. I think Hermes allied with Ares this time.”

Yeri looked delighted by the news.

The three of them walked until the path split off at a clearing. Twelve cabins stood in a semi-circle, each one of them decorated in a different way. The first two cabins were completely barren and empty. Seungwan explained that those were the Zeus and Poseidon cabins, and since they didn’t have any kids the cabins were there to show respect.

The third cabin only looked slightly less empty. There were no decorations and the front was empty save for a large metal dog bowl the size of a horse trough.

“That’s the Hades cabin. Joohyun’s been here for gods know how long and she _still_ hasn’t made an effort to make it look good,” Seungwan said.

That confirmed what Seulgi had already suspected. The shadowy tendrils, the power that literally sucked the life out of Minjun. Joohyun was a daughter of Hades.

“Wait, I thought Hades was forbidden from having any more children,” she said confusedly. Yeri looked equally interested at the revelation.

“Don’t ask me, I don’t know the particulars. I wouldn’t ask Joohyun either, she doesn’t seem to be on good terms with her father.” Seungwan quickly ushered Seulgi past Joohyun’s cabin before she could ask any more questions.

Cabins four, five and six were home to the Ares, Athena and Apollo cabins. As Seungwan introduced them in order she gave commentary on each god. The Ares cabin was built like a bunker, its front door spray-painted red, a stuffed boar’s head nailed crudely to the front like some kind of demented Christmas wreath. “Ares is the god of war, his kids are known for having a natural talent with weapons. Don’t mess with them, they’ll eat you up in a heartbeat. And don’t—”

Sooyoung was lounging on the front porch, nonchalantly twirling a five-foot-long spear in one hand. She locked eyes with Yeri and waved, a predatory grin on her face. Seungwan grabbed Yeri by the shoulders.

“—don’t look them in the eyes.” 

Athena’s cabin meanwhile was clean and orderly. A weathervane shaped like an owl flipped back and forth in the wind. Several students sat on the front porch, reading books and taking notes. A few of them could be heard arguing about battle strategy. “I guess Athena is also technically a goddess of war, but ask any of her kids and they’ll give you a lecture on just how different they are from Ares kids. They’re also wickedly smart so don’t challenge them to any brain games.”

A group of students wielding bows were stationed outside of the Apollo cabin. A line of targets had been set up a hundred yards away and Seulgi’s eyes widened as one by one the campers loosed their arrows and hit the bullseye every single time. Seungwan rolled her eyes. “Ugh, showoffs. Apollo is the god of music, archery, healing and the sun. Most of his kids can be sorted into one of two types. The archers, like those campers, or the medics who work at the infirmary. I find I can only stomach being around the medics like Solar-unnie. The archers have egos the size of Manhattan.”

Seungwan and Yeri stopped at the seventh cabin, which looked homey and comfortable. “And this is your new home for the time being, Seulgi.”

“Welcome to the Hermes cabin,” Yeri said, opening the front door with a flourish and nearly tripping over a sleeping bag that had been left carelessly on the floor. There wasn’t a lot of space to move around; almost every square inch was covered by either a cot or a sleeping bag. “Because Hermes is the patron god of roads and travelers all unclaimed demigods bunk with us until they’re claimed.”

Seungwan easily navigated the maze of extra sleeping cots and sat down on what appeared to be her own bed.

“Lucky Yeri actually gets to live in one of the rooms since she got claimed,” but there wasn’t any bite to her words.

The fourteen-year-old stuck her tongue out at Seungwan, who reciprocated the gesture. Yeri turned to address Seulgi. “I’ll go steal you a sleeping bag and some toiletries from the camp store and Seungwan-unnie can find you a place to sleep.”

She dashed away with a skip and Seungwan shook her head fondly at her retreating figure. “She’s a good kid. I’m glad Joohyun and Sooyoung managed to find her.”

She patted the space next to her on her bed and Seulgi tiptoed around the minefield of cots to sit next to her.

“This is a lot to take in,” Seulgi admitted, looking around her.

Seungwan looked sympathetic. “Yeah, I get it. The next few days should give you some time to settle in though. You’ll probably get a schedule tonight at dinner, you and I can go over it if you want?”

Seulgi was floored by the kind offer. With all the schools she’d attended throughout her sixteen years of life she’d never been in one place long enough to really bond with other kids. It didn’t help that her reputation as a walking disaster followed her from one school to another and most people avoided talking to her.

But Seungwan genuinely seemed to want to get to know her and it gave Seulgi a warm feeling in her chest. Was this what it was like to have a friend?

“Yeah. I’d like that.” 


	3. In Which Kang Seulgi Learns Bae Joohyun Is An Evil Genius

The next few days passed by in a flurry of activities and near-death experiences.

Since Seulgi hadn’t been claimed yet she was run through a gauntlet of challenges to see if she had any noticeable abilities. Things didn’t exactly go well for her.

The first morning, Yeri and a few of her Hermes siblings tasked her with stealing supplies from the camp store. Situated a short way away from the main building, the camp store was run by a man named Argus, who doubled as the camp’s head of security.

Yeri assured Seulgi that if she was a child of Hermes it would be easy to sneak by him and snag a few candy bars. Yeri also failed to mention that Argus quite literally had eyes in the back of his head. And all over the rest of his body. Seulgi was given a very stern talking to and when she returned empty-handed to her fellow campers it was decided that her godly parent definitely wasn’t Hermes.

Seungwan took her for a shift at the infirmary, introducing Seulgi to her boss, the head counselor of the Apollo cabin. Solar was a couple of years older than them, and she ran the infirmary with a tough but kind hand. Seulgi found she could perform basic first aid well enough, but when a Dionysus kid came in with a broken arm so bad it had bent in the opposite direction she almost threw up at the sight. Maybe healing wasn’t for her.

She almost drowned in the lake when Sooyoung overturned her canoe, proving to everyone that not only was she _not_ a child of Poseidon, she couldn’t swim. A friendly hippocampus saw her struggling out in the middle of the lake and took pity on her, kindly ferrying her back to shore.

Weapons class wasn’t much better. Seungwan informed her that everyone at camp had also been diagnosed with ADHD at some point. It was their innate battle reflexes at work that caused them to be hyperactive. In an actual battle it could save her life. But in practice, when Seulgi was placed other demigods, she was at a disadvantage. Especially when compared to the Ares and Athena kids, whose godly heritage granted them increased strength, stamina and proficiency with any and all weapons. After a particularly nasty bout with an Ares girl named Nayeon she decided sword fighting wasn’t her strong suit. Ranged weapons came a little easier to Seulgi, and while was decent enough with a bow, her talents were nowhere close to the Apollo campers.

The only relaxing part of her day was when she had her Ancient Greek lessons. Seulgi was surprised when she opened up the book and the letters didn’t seem to fly across the page or get scrambled together. For once she actually found reading enjoyable, and she was picking up Ancient Greek fairly quickly. The only downside? Her teacher.

“Read it again.”

Joohyun looked like this was the last place she wanted to be, teaching remedial Ancient Greek to Seulgi. She was a stickler for grammar and pronunciation and she had no problem with making Seulgi repeat passages over and over again until everything was just right.

Seulgi sighed, leafing through her book again until she found the beginning of the chapter.

“ὁρᾷς τὸν Ἀκτέωνος ἄθλιον μόρον,

ὃν ὠμόσιτοι σκύλακες ἃς ἐθρέψατο

διεσπάσαντο, κρείσσον' ἐν κυναγίαις

Ἀρτέμιδος εἶναι κομπάσαντ', ἐν ὀργάσιν.

**Look at Actaeon’s wretched fate**

**Who by the man-eating hounds he had raised,**

**Was torn apart, better at hunting**

**Than Artemis he had boasted to be, in the meadows”**

She looked up at Joohyun to see if the other girl approved of her attempt. Joohyun narrowed her eyes, as if trying to find something she could pick to harp on about but after several tense seconds she nodded begrudgingly.

“Fine. Good job, I guess.” Joohyun seemed to be even less interested in their lesson today than she normally would be, staring past Seulgi and towards the woods. Every now and then she’d jot something down in a notebook, muttering to herself about battle strategy psychological warfare.

“Joohyun?” Seulgi asked timidly, closing her book and tapping the older girl’s shoulder warily.

“Hm?” was Joohyun’s response.

“Are you feeling okay? You seem to have something on your mind.” Seulgi caught a few lines of the notes Joohyun had written in her notebook. It looked to be in some type of shorthand because none of it made any sense to Seulgi. _Psychological warfare. Ares beserker rage. 2yeon. Use Aphro kids?_

Joohyun caught her looking and quickly snapped her notebook shut. “It’s nothing, Kang. I’m one of the captains in charge of tonight’s war game, I’m just planning out my strategy. Actually since you’re bunking with Hermes you’ll be on my team tonight.”

It was probably a trick of the light, but in that moment Seulgi swore Joohyun had smiled briefly at her. It was gone all too quickly though, as Joohyun grabbed the book Seulgi was reading from and underlined a few phrases in red pen. “Now read it again.”

Seulgi just sighed.

**XXX**

The atmosphere at dinner that evening was noticeably charged with excitement. Seungwan had taught Seulgi and Yeri how to make offerings to the gods, so after scraping off some of her meat into the giant fire pit at the center of the dining pavilion, ("To whoever my godly parent is.") Seulgi joined Seungwan, Yeri, and a few other kids at their table. Seungwan was bantering back and forth with an Athena girl named Tzuyu about who was going to win tonight's war game.

"No way, we're totally going to win. Hermes managed to ally with Ares this time. Which means by default we also have Hades, which means we have Joohyun. There's no way we're losing."

Tzuyu huffed and threw a french fry in Seungwan's face. "Your cabin is such a sellout, what privileges did you have to trade to get on their team?"

Seungwan smirked, "None, Sooyoung approached Minho last night and asked if we would join them. I'm not going to look a gift horse like that in the mouth. But having Joohyun on our team doesn’t automatically mean we win. Director Kim and Mr. D banned her from shadow-traveling straight to the flag after that one time, remember?"

Shadow-traveling? Seulgi hadn’t come across that phrase yet so she leaned in close to Seungwan as the other girl took a sip of her drink before delving into her story. The rest of the girls at their table seemed interested as well.

“Okay, so Joohyun has a lot of abilities as a daughter of Hades, right? One of them is called shadow-traveling. I’m not sure about the exact specifics of her power but it basically allows her to tap into a network of shadows and create portals. It doesn’t have a huge range and she can only cast it like twice before it exhausts her but that didn’t stop her that one time we played.”

“It was Hermes, Hades, Aphrodite and Dionysus against Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, Demeter and Apollo. We have more people but they have a wider variety of demigods. A genius soul from Hermes (she pointed at herself) asked why Joohyun couldn’t just shadow-travel to their flag, take it, and shadow-travel right back.”

Sooyoung, who had been passing by with a second plate of food, leaned over and interrupted Seungwan’s story. “So Joohyun portaled to our flag and stole it, ending the game in two minutes and fifteen seconds. That’s why her use of shadow-traveling is restricted. The end.”

Seungwan grumbled at her story being cut off, taking one of Tzuyu’s fries off her plate and throwing it Sooyoung, who easily dodged it with a smirk on her face. “Thanks for ruining my story. Are you sure you picked the right English name, _Joy?_ Cause you’re not being very nice right now.”

Rolling her eyes at the antics, Tzuyu turned to Seulgi as she approached the table. "How about you, new girl? Are you excited for tonight?"

"Should I be?" Seulgi asked, pulling up a chair and setting her tray down. Meals at Camp Half-Blood were so much better than the meals at her last school. It was as if her plate knew exactly what she was in the mood for and provided for her accordingly. Tonight she’d been given Korean-style bulgogi and rice, with kimchi and a bowl of soup on the side. It even tasted like her mom’s homemade food.

"Uh, yeah!" a girl named Jeongyeon cut in. "Tonight's the night we play war games. Technically it’s supposed to prepare us for when we get chosen to go on a quest, or if a monster somehow manages to get past the camp’s magical boundaries. Just picture it: eighty demigods armed to the teeth playing capture the flag." She sighed happily, taking a bite of her pizza. "It's so much fun."

Seulgi looked confused. "Wait, seriously? You guys actually play war games with real weapons?”

Of course they would, she thought to herself. And here she thought almost dying four times in two days was a fluke. Seungwan patted her shoulder reassuringly, "Don't worry there are nymphs always on the sidelines ready to perform first aid if anyone needs it during the match. And the Apollo cabin takes a shift at the infirmary after to help out. Deaths are uncommon."

"Deaths?" Seulgi spluttered, almost choking on her soda, clearly unprepared for such a nonchalant response. Jeongyeon had to thump her on the back for a good minute before she managed to catch her breath.

"Relax, they're being overly dramatic," the daughter of Dionysus assured. "It can get dangerous, but no one has actually ever died before. Oh, there's Director Kim, the games are about to start."

Kim Jongkook strode out into the middle of the pavilion, where two metal flag posts had been placed. Twelve small blank flags surrounded the flag posts. Four of them, representing Zeus, Hera, Poseidon and Artemis had already been filled in. The head of Camp Half-Blood cleared his throat and raised a bullhorn.

"Alright everyone, I know you're all ready for tonight's war games, but before we begin, I'd like to restate the rules. Especially because some campers," he glanced pointedly at a table full of Ares campers, "are fond of playing roughly. Anyway, the rules for tonight's capture the flag are as follows: all magical weapons and armor are allowed, as well as animal companions for those of you that have them. Here at Camp Half-Blood we have a strict no maiming or killing rule, while these events are meant to simulate potential battlefield experiences, they are by no means meant to cause permanent damage."

A chorus of boos sounded from the Ares table, but Director Kim simply waved them off. "Yes yes, I know, what a disappointment. Now for the teams."

He blew the horn once and Sooyoung jogged out into the center of the dining hall carrying a large flag. She was flanked by two of her siblings, Nayeon and a boy named Chanyeol. The flag was eight feet long and blood-red, a sigil of a tusked boar in the center. Sooyoung stuck the flag in one of the flag poles and seconds later, four of the smaller once-blank flags began to shimmer and change color.

Director Kim read the flags as they changed. "Fighting with Ares tonight we have Hermes," a white flag emblazoned with a blue caduceus appeared. "Aphrodite," a pink flag with a white dove, "Dionysus," a dark purple flag with a green grapevine, "And Hades," a jet-black flag with a three-headed dog.

As their cabins were announced, the campers cheered loudly, the atmosphere becoming even more tense and on-edge as the games inched closer.

"And opposing them tonight we have…"

"Athena!" a young man yelled, making his entrance with some of his siblings, holding the silver flag of his cabin and planting it on the other pedestal. Tzuyu cheered, showing her cabin pride as the ally flags next to the Athena flag changed.

Director Kim smiled at all the competitiveness, "Yes, tonight is our classic Ares versus Athena. And allied with Athena we have Apollo," a golden flag with a lyre. "Hephaestus," a bronze flag with a hammer and anvil, "and Demeter," an earthy olive flag with a stalk of wheat. He waited patiently for the latest round of cheering to die down before continuing.

"Wow," Seulgi muttered at the sheer noise now shaking the dining hall. People really got into the war games here. "This is insane. What have I gotten myself into?"

XXX

"Alright guys, come to Yeri, I’ve…acquired some treats for you, courtesy of the Hephaestus cabin," Yeri grinned wolfishly as the rest of their team gathered around her. She produced a handful of walkie-talkies from behind her back and began handing them out to the leaders of the various squads.

“You stole these from them, didn’t you?” Seungwan accused as she was handed one, but she looked impressed. 

"Yep!" the blonde chirped cheerfully, giving the last one to Joohyun and instructing everyone on how to change the channels so they could listen in on the enemy team’s communications. "So, as Joohyun-unnie told me, most forms of modern human communication don't work within camp boundaries. But with a little teamwork, my siblings and I managed to snatch about a dozen of the custom walkie-talkies the Hephaestus cabin has been working on. So now not only can we constantly be in the loop with each other, but we can also hear the other team’s plans."

Even Joohyun looked impressed at the feat Yeri and her siblings managed to pull off. But then again, the children of Hermes were basically evil geniuses.

With Joohyun as their captain and Sooyoung as the team’s lieutenant, their group of about forty changed into the required armor (complete with a red horse-hair plumed helmet) and set off into the woods that surrounded the camp.

They ended up in the middle of a clearing with a large outcropping of rock in the middle called Zeus’s Fist. Joohyun instructed a boy named Jongdae to place their team’s flag at the top of the rock. He took the flag from Sooyoung and with a whispered command word he activated his winged sandals to fly to the top.

After making sure the team's flag was securely in place and the defenders set, Joohyun met with the leaders of the eight other squads to go over their battle strategy for this game. It would be a difficult match, especially since Athena kids were known for coming up with brilliant tactical maneuvers.

The preliminary horn went off, warning all the demigods that the game would be starting in sixty seconds. Joohyun dismissed the squad captains and walked over to Seulgi and Seungwan. Jeongyeon sidled up next to them, giving an almost imperceptible nod to Joohyun.

"Are you and your squad ready?" Seulgi overheard Joohyun ask. “This match will depend on you.”

Jeongyeon nodded. "I have to admit this is a ballsy plan. If we pull this off though there’s _definitely_ no way we’ll lose. Are you ready to…?" She left the rest of the question hanging so as not to reveal any more of the plan.

"Yes. We’ll go after the other squads disperse. It was clever of you to think of this loophole. But I don't think Nayeon is going to be pleased."

"When is she ever pleased?" the daughter of Dionysus smirked. "But I gotta say, it’s gonna be worth it. Besides, take-charge Nayeon is super hot."

Joohyun chuckled under her breath as another horn blasted through the night air and the forest came alive with the battle cries of eighty demigods. "You’re totally whipped. Now go. And let me know when you and the Aphrodite squad are in place."

Jeongyeon nodded and left with her assigned squad. Joohyun rounded on Seulgi and Yeri. "Kang, Yeri!"

"Yeah?"

“What’s up, Joohyun-unnie?”

"You're with me tonight, patrol duty for now. Someone needs to show you the finer points of this game." She gave Seulgi a quick once over and pursed her lips. “Just do your best not to screw us over.”

Seulgi gulped audibly but tightened her grip on the daggers she’d picked up from the weapons table. She'd been here less than a week and was already being thrust into the fighting so to speak. And unlike Seulgi, Yeri looked absolutely thrilled to be paired with Joohyun. She recalled Yeri saying she wanted to watch Joohyun fight. Looks like she’ll be getting her wish, Seulgi thought.

Joohyun was all business as they set out into the woods. “Follow me, we already have a plan in place, but we need to wait for the signal from Jeongyeon before we can begin."

Seulgi remembered the notes Joohyun was scribbling during their Ancient Greek lesson earlier in the afternoon. It had all looked like gibberish to her, and she found herself wondering what everything meant. "What exactly _is_ the plan?"

Joohyun's eyes lit up mischievously and she held up her walkie-talkie, through which came muffled sounds of battle as the first squads met with the other side. "I can’t shadow-travel directly to the flag and take it, I’m sure someone has told you the story by now. I’m not completely banned from shadow traveling though.”

The three of them hid behind a clump of tall bushes and waited. Joohyun fiddled with the walkie’s settings and flipped through all the available channels until she settled on an empty one. Holding the walkie out in one hand so Seulgi and Yeri could listen in, she gestured for them to be quiet.

A minute later Jeongeyon’s muted voice came through. “We’re all set. Come get me.”

Joohyun handed the walkie off to Yeri and moved about a dozen feet away from their current location. She stretched out her arms and exhaled deeply. Familiar black tendrils began forming around Joohyun’s body, the power coalescing in her hands. Pointing at a clear area, Joohyun guided the power towards the ground. A small orb of pure darkness appeared, and at Joohyun’s whispered command it slowly began expanding until a human-sized portal stood in its place.

It took a few seconds, but soon a shadowy figure appeared in the portal. The figure stepped out of the shadows revealing a tense looking and very beat up Yoo Jeongyeon.

She looked awful. A large bruise marred one cheekbone and she was sporting not one but _two_ black eyes. A bloody gash across her nose completed the package.

“By the gods, are you okay Jeongeyon?” Seulgi gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. She’d been told war games got serious but she didn’t think things could get _thi_ s bad.

Jeongyeon merely grinned, taking a finger and rubbing it under one eye. It came away a smudgy black. “I’m good. None of this is real.”

Makeup? This explained Joohyun’s _use Aphrodite kids_ note. But why would Joohyun have Jeongyeon made up to look like she had just gotten in a huge brawl?

“Joohyun asked the Aphrodite kids on our team to make me and my entire squad look like we’d gotten ambushed by the other team. Her shadow-traveling restrictions only affect going after the other team’s flag, not general use.”

Seulgi was impressed at the forethought that had gone into this plan. "I take it that's not all. You wouldn’t have gone this far without some kind of other plan. There's no way you're telling me everything."

A bloodcurdling roar suddenly blasted through the woods, sending chills down every player's back. Joohyun grinned evilly. "That's the plan, Kang."

Her walkie crackled to life and Seulgi could hear the opposing team panicking on the other end. "Blue team! Who the fuck was stupid enough to ambush and take Yoo Jeongyeon hostage?!”

Seulgi looked up at Jeongyeon with a confused look on her face. “Why would they be worried about that? You’re here with us, they didn’t take you hostage.”

Realization dawned on Yeri’s face. “No. We did.” She tilted her head. “Technically. By Joohyun portaling Jeongyeon to us she made it _seem_ like the other team had kidnapped her.”

"And Nayeon _hates_ it when people mess with her girlfriend," Joohyun explained as she gestured for the four of them to keep moving closer to the creek, unable to keep a small chuckle of amusement from escaping. "I'd hate to be the campers that run into her. If an Ares kid gets angry enough they’re able to channel a kind of berserker rage. Makes them ten times more dangerous to face.”

A second, smaller roar, followed quickly by a third, fourth and fifth roar rent the night sky. “Beserker rage also happens to be kind of contagious. If one Ares camper goes into berserk mode, the others usually aren’t far behind.”

Seulgi’s jaw dropped as she realized something. Jeongyeon. And her girlfriend Nayeon. _2yeon._

“We’re at a disadvantage numbers wise,” Jeongyeon said. “Both Apollo and Athena have more campers. The playing field needed to be evened out.”

The rest of the plan suddenly dawned on Seulgi. "And while Nayeon and her siblings act as Satan's incarnation to take out chunks of the other team’s forces, we're sneaking across the lines to take their flag while they're distracted."

Joohyun nodded, then quickly spun around and dragged Seulgi behind a tree, hurriedly muting her walkie-talking and pressing her body close to the Seulgi’s and putting a finger to her lips. Jeongyeon grabbed Yeri’s hand and used her powers to summon a thick pair of vines to obscure the two of them from view. Not a second later, a squad of a half-dozen Apollo archers thundered past them and towards the rapidly escalating situation that was Nayeon, ignoring the four of them completely.

When the archers had moved far enough away Joohyun disentangled herself from Seulgi and apologized brusquely, "Sorry."

Seulgi was speechless as Joohyun quickly removed herself from Seulgi’s personal space, as if Seulgi had some sort of contagious disease. The older girl smelled amazing, and Seulgi could almost hear her brain short-circuiting as she recalled the feeling of Joohyun’s arm wrapping around her waist. Seulgi never thought she could be into girls. Until now.

"Don't be," she said dazedly, and then as if realizing what she had just said, shook her head. Joohyun looked at her with a confused look on her face. Seulgi berated herself. This was not the time to have a big gay panic. "I mean, it's okay. How far are we from their flag?"

Jeongyeon’s vines retreated back into the earth and her and Yeri rejoined Joohyun and Seulgi. Yeri raised her eyebrows and mouthed something that looked suspiciously like _Quit being so gay._

Joohyun unmuted her walkie talkie and handed it to Jeongyeon so she could unsheathe the two swords that crossed her back and sink fully into combat mode. "It shouldn't be far. What's our status on Project Nayeon?"

Jeongyeon contacted one of the other squad leaders and asked for an update. The news must have been good because a huge grin appeared on her face. "Apparently she and Sooyoung been mowing through defenders and all reports say that because of that, they've only left one person with the flag."

"One defender? That's quite stupid of them," Joohyun scoffed. "Come on, they've done all they can for us right now, let's get to that flag and bring it home."

XXX

Seulgi didn’t think of herself as an actress, so when Joohyun told her to fake a limp and act as though she’d been injured she steadfastly refused. Knowing Joohyun, if Seulgi somehow managed to mess things up she’d never hear the end of it. And an angry Joohyun was already kind of unbearable to be around.

Luckily for both of them, Yeri was more than willing to step up to the plate.

Jeongyeon summoned her vines once again to camouflage the three of them while Yeri got herself ready to go. Seulgi thought the younger girl definitely had to have some type of juvenile record back in Korea because Yeri immediately managed to make herself tear up as she affected her limp and walked straight into the center of the clearing where the other team had placed their flag. 

"Yeri?" Tzuyu called from her position next to the flag. She leaped off the pedestal and sheathed her longsword. "What happened, are you okay?"

Yeri sniffed, and a single solitary tear ran down her cheek. "I got separated from my squad and ran into one of your team's ambush parties. And I didn't know my way back to the creek so I just kept walking. Jesus, you guys are insane about capture the flag."

Tzuyu chuckled. "Yeah, it can get pretty crazy sometimes. That's why I usually stick around on flag defense, its less action. Can you walk? I have some ambrosia in my bag that'll fix you up in a second."

Both Jeongyeon and Seulgi’s mouths dropped open. Yeri had done such a good job that the daughter of Athena had immediately fallen into their trap. Seulgi glanced over at Joohyun and the older girl looked so proud. And for some reason Seulgi found herself getting a little bit jealous.

In the clearing, Tzuyu offered a hand to Yeri and the blonde took it gratefully, leaning on the taller girl for support as they walked toward the flag. "Thanks Tzuyu, next time I'll have to be more careful."

"No problem. You shouldn't be out here alone though, it's always safer to travel in numbers. Though I shouldn't be talking, my partner Sana suddenly got ordered to help out with some major skirmish with the Ares kids."

"Who said she was alone?" Joohyun asked, as she revealed herself. Jeongyeon’s vines melted away and she flanked the daughter of Hades. The color drained from Tzuyu's face as she realized that she had been played.

“Jeongyeon? But our reports said....oh you devious little assholes!” Tzuyu turned to Yeri. “You’re not even injured, are you?”

"Sorry Chewy," Yeri apologized, elbowing her friend in the stomach and wincing in sympathy as the taller girl doubled over before being mercilessly taken out by Jeongyeon who summoned her vines to completely incapacitate Tzuyu.

Joohyun grabbed the Athena flag from its place, gestured for Seulgi to hand her the walkie-talkie and radioed for the surviving squads to start moving to the creek to defend them. "There's no time for apologies Yeri. Nayeon and Sooyoung can't hold out for long against that many people and there's no doubt a group of demigods are already coming to intercept us."

“Of course they are,” Tzuyu called from her makeshift prison. She gestured to the top of the flag with her eyes. Seulgi followed her gaze and noticed a small red light that began to blink. “As soon as Joohyun touched the flag the tracking device activated.”

Joohyun looked up and swore. They really should have expected something like this, especially with the Hephaestus cabin. “Our position’s been revealed, we have to move. Now.”

She tossed the walkie to Yeri and told Jeongyeon to stay at the flag with Tzuyu to make sure she couldn’t escape. “Try to keep up you two.”

Seulgi exhaled deeply, cracking her knuckles and quickly composing herself, following Joohyun as the three of them began to run towards the creek, and to victory. She hoped the run back would be quick and that they wouldn't happen upon any last-minute defenders. It was too much to hope for though, as they soon ran into Suho, a son of Athena, who was accompanied by a Demeter boy named Kyungsoo.

"Hand over the flag Joohyun, and no one gets hurt," Suho placated, drawing his weapon and circling around her. Even though she had her hands full with the flag, Seulgi could see that he was being cautious with his movements. Just because Joohyun was unarmed didn’t mean she was any less dangerous.

Joohyun snorted at his pathetic attempt to get her to surrender. "In your dreams, pretty boy. You really want to mess with me?"

"Don't call me pretty boy," he growled, launching himself at her and starting the skirmish. "Kyungsoo! Deal with the new kids!"

Seulgi saw Kyungsoo rush toward them and, worried about him getting his hands on Yeri, tackled him and sent them both to the ground, leaving Joohyun to scrap with Suho to fight. A brief flash of worry crossed Yeri’s face as Seulgi made the choice to challenge Kyungsoo head on.

Joohyun yelped in surprise when Suho threw himself bodily on top of her, trying to pry the flag from her hands. They struggled for a while, both seemingly on even footing, before Suho used his size advantage to pin her to the forest floor.

Seulgi meanwhile had no idea what to do after tackling Kyungsoo. Thankfully, he didn’t have a clue either. Kyungsoo managed to push Seulgi off of him, and he tried to rally back to Suho in order to help him grab the flag but Yeri was waiting, ready to pounce. She grabbed him by the shoulders, and in a series of practiced moves, was able to disarm him. His sword clattered to the ground and he hand no choice but to throw his hands up in surrender. 

The creek was so close, Seulgi could hear the water gurgling from her spot on the ground, taunting her. She spotted something shiny lying half-concealed in one of the nearby bushes and she pushed aside the branches to see what it was. It was the spear she had seen Sooyoung cooing over before the match. If the Ares girl’s favorite weapon wasn’t with her, she must have been taken down. Her suspicions were soon confirmed.

Sooyoung and Nayeon jumped out of the bushes on the other side of the creek, trading blows with a squad of Athena kids. They looked visibly worn out, both of them bleeding from a variety of cuts and scrapes all over their bodies. But it had taken twenty-three demigods to relieve them of their main weapons, and even with only their backup swords to fight with they proved to be difficult opponents.

The rest of the fighting had compacted near them at the boundary line, and from the constant stream of chatter that came from the walkie, Seulgi deduced that they had lost their own flag and it was now a race to see who would cross the creek first.

"Somi has our flag," Seungwan shouted, sounding out of breath. "Fuck me, she's too fast for us to catch. They disabled our traps Joohyun, you have to get their flag across first."

Heaving a sigh, Joohyun looked up at Suho and with an insincere smile kneed him in the groin as hard as she could. He yelped in pain and dropped like a rock, cursing wildly under his breath. Joohyun used the opportunity to scramble to her feet. She didn’t get very far however, as her ankle soon buckled underneath her.

“Are you okay, Joohyun?” Yeri asked. She had finally managed to incapacitate Kyungsoo and the unfortunate Demeter boy was now hogtied to the trunk of a nearby tree. Joohyun nodded grimly, assessing the situation in front of her. Seulgi swore she could see the gears turning in the other girl’s head as she thought through the possible outcomes. They didn’t have much time.

In front of them, Somi was making a mad dash for the creek, dodging demigod after demigod. Joohyun bit back a curse and made a split-second decision.

"You better not screw this up, Seulgi!" Joohyun called, and with the last bit of her strength, she tossed the flag into the air and towards Seulgi with one hand, the other picking up the spear that Sooyoung dropped and aiming for Somi, who was hauling ass towards the boundary line. Her shot rang true and while the javelin missed hitting the daughter of Apollo, it caused her to trip and fall just feet from winning the match.

Everything suddenly seemed to unfold in slow motion. As Somi tried to recover, Seulgi had taken the flag and was now running as quickly as she could toward the creek. She was soon flanked by Yeri who had drawn her spare weapon and was batting away the last-ditch defenders as easily as one batted away insects.

Sooyoung saw them making the final push and roared, her eyes glowing a bright red. She supported them from the front, using her berserker strength to forcibly keep a group of enemy players away from her teammates. Joohyun had taken the rear defense position and was channeling her powers. The earth began rumbling under the blue team’s feet, causing their players to trip and fall, further slowing them down. Seungwan led her team of Hermes kids and assisted Seulgi from the side, rushing in to swarm the remaining defenders with sheer numbers.

Seulgi felt the cold water well up in her boots as she splashed into the creek, her team's encouraging shouts urging her to push her body to the limit. Before she knew it, her boots hit the other side and she slammed the enemy flag on the ground, a loud horn signaling the end of the match.

She was then surrounded by a sea of red armor as her teammates rushed toward her, lifting her onto their shoulders and shouting her name. "Kang Seulgi! Kang Seulgi!"

As soon as the victory horn blew, Joohyun released her hold on the earth and freed the campers she had trapped. Suho had gotten up and while he was glaring daggers at Joohyun he clapped politely for Seulgi. Seungwan and Yeri began teaching their fellow campers how to do the wave as they led the victory cheers.

The jovial moment was cut short however when the flag Seulgi had dropped suddenly begin to flash. Silence fell over the assembled campers as the silver and grey banner of Athena flickered once before disappearing. "No way, she's getting claimed," Seungwan whispered reverently.

The now-blank flag began to change color, gold drowning the canvas, a white sun etching itself onto the center of the flag. There was only one god with a sigil like that….

"All hail Lord Apollo," Joohyun called, her usually quiet voice carrying through the now completely silent forest. She carefully bent down on one knee, a hand over her heart. The rest of the campers soon followed, gently setting Seulgi on the ground before imitating the daughter of Hades. "God of the Sun. Father of Prophecy and Bringer of Dawn."

She looked directly at Seulgi and though it looked like the words were painful for her to say, she added. “And all hail Kang Seulgi. Daughter of Apollo.”

All Seulgi could do in that moment was try not to completely freak out.


	4. In Which Kang Seulgi Gets A Bad Feeling

After the cheering died down and most of the campers filtered out of the woods and back to their cabins, Seulgi was left standing with Seungwan, Yeri and Sooyoung. None of them had gotten seriously injured, but Sooyoung had a nasty looking bruise on her arm that made it difficult for her to hold her spear, so they decided to walk over to the infirmary to get her treated by the medics.

Seungwan left their group to assist the Apollo kids with their after-games shift, dragging Sooyoung behind her by her good arm so she wouldn’t run away. Seulgi felt kind of bad that Sooyoung had gotten injured during the game but the taller girl waved away her apologies.

“All’s fair in love and war. Or something like that. Besides, I haven’t gotten to rage out in a while. Very cathartic.”

As a newly claimed daughter of Apollo, Seulgi thought it would be good idea to offer her services at the infirmary to help deal with the line of campers filing. She avoided any of the serious injuries like the plague (she really didn’t want to see _that_ much blood) but she was able to work with one of her new siblings to patch up the minor scrapes and bruises people came in with.

Her partner Somi was a fun girl to be around. The younger girl was around Yeri’s age and seemed to love being around Seulgi, constantly peppering her with questions about her life and praising her for her exploits during the game. Seulgi returned the compliments, saying Somi would have gotten the flag across first for the win if Joohyun hadn’t thrown that spear at her. They settled into a comfortable routine together, Somi showing Seulgi how to properly wrap bandages and keep track of the infirmary’s stores of nectar and ambrosia.

The head of the Hermes cabin stopped by while they were organizing medical supplies and said that most of Seulgi’s things would be moved to the Apollo cabin by tomorrow morning. “We probably could get it done tonight but I figured we’re all wiped out. Do you mind bunking with us for another night?”

Seulgi shook her head emphatically, assuring Minho that she didn’t mind staying one more night. Besides, she wanted to be able to spend one more night sleeping with Seungwan and Yeri. 

After games shifts at the infirmary usually lasted about four hours, so by the time things began winding down it was half past two in the morning. Solar dismissed everyone except the skeleton staff at three, thanking them for their help.

Seulgi passed by Nayeon’s cot on her way out and noticed that Jeongyeon was posted faithfully by her girlfriend’s side. The daughter of Dionysus saw her and beckoned her over. “You headed out for the night?”

“Yeah. I have to admit there’s something very fulfilling about helping campers but I don’t think I’ll ever settle into being a full time healer like some of the Apollo kids.” Seulgi turned to Nayeon. “How are you feeling?”

“Little pissed that Joohyun used me as a distraction, but we won so I can’t be too mad about it,” Nayeon replied. The daughter of Ares had taken quite the beating and was told to stay in the infirmary overnight for observation but she looked to be in high spirits.

“Did I mention that I was sorry?” Jeongyeon whined, entwining her fingers with Nayeon’s and giving her a cute pout. “Joohyun told me not to tell you about the plan.”

Nayeon’s smile was predatory. “Just you wait until I get cleared to leave, missy. You and I are gonna have a talk.”

Jeongyeon gulped and Seulgi had to stifle a laugh. Jeongyeon had told her and Joohyun that she knew the risks and was more than willing to take one for the team but judging from the slightly worried look on the daughter of Dionysus’s face she probably regretted it. _Besides, take charge Nayeon is hot,_ Seulgi remembered her saying.

“I’ll leave you to it then, Nayeon,” Seulgi said. “But try not to permanently damage Jeongyeon, I like seeing her around. Feel better soon!”

“I make no promises. Great game tonight, Seulgi. I look forward to seeing you in combat classes.”

Seulgi left, making sure Jeongyeon had a blanket since she refused to leave Nayeon’s side until the Ares girl was released. The exhaustion was finally starting to settle in and she dragged her aching body back to the Hermes cabin.

To her utter surprise the usually active and noisy cabin was as silent as the grave, something she wouldn’t have thought possible. Still, the lack of noise was comforting, and she quietly tiptoed past her sleeping cabinmates to collapse on her bed. Beside her, Seungwan mumbled something under her breath about dancing bears, turning over in bed to cuddle her stuffed Bambi plushie.

To think, Seulgi had only been at Camp Half-Blood for a few days and in that short period of time she’d survived her first war game and gotten claimed by her father. This is utterly exhausting, she thought. And to think, some campers were like Joohyun and had been there since they were little kids. She hoped her body would eventually get used to the active schedules everyone seemed to lead.

She’d have to prepare for whatever was coming next. Only the gods knew what the next day would have in store for her.

XXX

Everyone was bleary-eyed at breakfast the next morning and the entire dining pavilion had a strong aroma of coffee as the eighty or so demigods at camp drank their weight in caffeinated beverages. War games were a lot of fun but the morning after had everyone looking and feeling like death. Luckily, everyone’s schedules had been cut short to compensate and when Seulgi saw that she only had two blocks for classes she was relieved. She’d gotten a good night’s sleep and had even gotten up a little earlier than usual to start packing up her things but she definitely wasn’t in the mood for a full day of training.

Peering at her new schedule she realized all she had was a riding lesson in the morning and a sparring class after lunch. Even her usual afternoon Greek lesson with Joohyun had been cancelled, to her slight displeasure. Seulgi didn’t know where these feelings for Joohyun were coming from, especially considering the older girl still seemed to actively avoid her whenever possible. And when they _did_ meet, Joohyun was cold and distant.

Seungwan slid into the seat next to her and took a look at her own schedule, hands cupped around a giant mug that was full to the brim with coffee. Seulgi greeted her and took a bite of her eggs, “I am so glad we have short schedules today.”

Seungwan groaned and took another long sip of her coffee, “Yeah, good thing Director Kim has the brains to adjust everyone’s schedules after war games.” She leaned over to look at Seulgi’s schedule. “And you have a riding lesson today? Lucky. You’ll like it, most people end up enjoying working with the Pegasi but the stables have a few unconventional mounts too that are fun.”

“You have riding too?” Yeri bounced in looking completely well-rested and wide-awake. Seulgi couldn’t believe her eyes. How could Yeri not be keeled over and half-dead from exhaustion right now. Was this some kind of hidden Hermes trait? “We can go together then Seulgi-unnie!”

Seungwan glared daggers at Yeri, still nursing her coffee. “How are you so awake right now? Literally, what the hell?”

“Jeongyeon-unnie gave me some of her cabin’s “hangover” medicine at the infirmary last night and told me to take some before I went to bed,” Yeri shrugged, “I guess it works pretty well because I feel fine.”

“Ah, damn I forgot to ask her about that,” Seungwan swore, turning to Seulgi to explain. “Since Dionysus is also like the patron god of parties and alcohol they have pretty strong tolerances but even his kids have their limits. Jeongyeon and a few of her siblings created a drink that virtually guarantees you won’t feel any after-effects of partying.” She looked over at Yeri who was busy filling her plate with toast and bacon. “Apparently it works well on exhaustion too.”

Tzuyu was the last of their little crew to join them that morning since Jeongyeon was still at the infirmary with Nayeon. She settled down in an empty seat and starting picking at her breakfast, completely absorbed in the book she’d brought. Occasionally she’d reach blindly for her coffee.

“Morning Tzuyu,” Seulgi greeted.

Tzuyu yawned, “Morning. How does it feel to be the freshly claimed child of Apollo?”

“Honestly I don’t feel any different. I’m sad that I won’t get to bunk with Seungwan and Yeri anymore though.” When Seulgi heard that she would be switching cabins she was a little put out that she wouldn’t be cabinmates with her closest friends. It almost made her feel like she was moving schools again, forced to leave behind whatever people she had become close with. “I’ll miss them.”

“We’ll miss you too,” Yeri said from across the table.

Somi chose that moment to pass by with her empty plate, and she was scowling at her schedule. “Tzuyu what chores did you get assigned for this afternoon?”

Tzuyu looked down at her schedule. “Weapon maintenance, why?”

“Wanna trade for my library duty? I can’t stand being cooped up in there all afternoon.”

“Totally.” Tzuyu reached out her hand and grabbed Somi’s. “I, Chou Tzuyu hereby trade my weapon maintenance duty for Jeon Somi’s library duty.”

Somi repeated the phrase and when their hands broke apart their schedules rearranged to reflect the change in chores. Seulgi’s eyes widened. “Wow. I didn’t know you could do that.”

“It’s common to trade chore privileges around here for favors and the like,” Tzuyu explained as Somi walked away looking a lot happier. “As long as both parties are willing neither Director Kim nor Mr. D have any problems with the practice.”

Seulgi glanced back at her schedule but saw nothing on it indicating she had any work after classes. “Why don’t I have anything on my schedule? Somi and I are in the same cabin, shouldn’t I have chores too?”

Tzuyu shook her head, “You were technically still part of the Hermes cabin when the game ended last night. The winning side gets automatically exempted from chores for a week as a reward.”

“Wow,” Seulgi said. “That’s a nice perk.”

“It’s good incentive for everyone to try their best during war games,” Seungwan chimed in. She looked a little more awake now that she’d downed her giant mug of coffee. “Because who wants to get stuck with chores afterwards?”

“Please don’t remind me,” Tzuyu said. “This next week is going to suck.”

Yeri kindly patted her on the back as she picked up her empty plate to return it. “Well, I’m off to the paddocks for riding class. Wanna walk with me Seulgi-unnie?”

Seulgi nodded and gathered up her own used dishes before following the blonde as they walked in the direction of the stables, waving goodbye to her friends.

XXX

All Seulgi could say as she approached the stables was, “Whoa.”

She looked up at the dozen or so Pegasi soaring through the sky as she and Yeri got closer to the paddocks near the outskirts of camp. A few more of the winged horses could be seen lazily munching on grass while a few campers milled around attending to their duties.

There weren’t only Pegasi stabled at Camp Half-Blood however. A few non-winged warhorses with flaming hooves paced around restlessly in a separate dirt paddock. Next to them a pair of rhino-sized black Mastiff dogs with ominous glowing eyes lay underneath the shade of a large tree. “Wow. Seungwan wasn’t kidding when she said there were a variety of mounts at the stables.”

Yeri grinned, her face lighting up like a kid in a candy store as she rushed past Seulgi to go see the various horses. “Joohyun-unnie told me most of the Pegasi here belong to the camp but some of the campers have their own personal mounts given to them by their parents and stuff.”

She pointed to the two giant dogs. “Those dogs belong to Joohyun-unnie. Apparently her dad gave them to her as a birthday present.”

“They’re called Hellhounds,” a voice said. A young woman that looked to be in her early twenties walked over to them, dressed in riding leathers and leading a freshly tacked up gray Pegasus by its halter. “And I wouldn’t get too close to them if I were you, they’re only friendly to Joohyun. Anyone else who goes near them risks getting bitten.”

Seulgi snorted. Of course they were mean like Joohyun. “Thanks for the advice…”

“Yuri. I’m the stablemaster here at Camp Half-Blood. And you two must be my newest students, Kang Yeri and Kim Yerim.” The Pegasus next to her snorted and pushed his head past Yuri as if to say hello. “How rude of me. And this is Icarus.”

Seulgi giggled. “It’s very nice to meet you, Icarus.”

Yeri cautiously approached the winged horse with an outstretched hand, a huge smile breaking out on her face when he gently nibbled at her fingers with velvety soft lips. Yuri nodded in appreciation, “Look at you, you’re a natural with them already Yeri.”

The younger girl beamed, reminding Seulgi that while she was an incredibly capable young warrior she was still just a kid. Yuri allowed Yeri and Icarus to get acquainted with each other for a few moments before sending the blonde into the stables to pick out a helmet for the day’s lesson.

“So Seulgi, I heard you brought home the win last night. Congratulations.” Yuri tied Icarus to a wooden post to let him graze while she talked with Seulgi.

Seulgi felt her cheeks heating up. All she’d done was take the flag across at the last moment, her teammates should be getting the credit. “I definitely didn’t do it alone. Joohyun did most of the work, it was her plan that won the game for us.”

“So modest for a daughter of Apollo,” Yuri joked, her eyes twinkling mischievously. The hellhounds in the paddock next to where they were standing must have heard Joohyun’s name because their ears had perked up and they were now loping over to stand at the gate, tails thumping excitedly. “I’m sorry boys, Joohyun won’t be here until later. This is Seulgi, she and Joohyun were the MVP’s during last night’s game.”

The bigger hellhound turned his great head to stare directly at Seulgi, his red eyes smoldering. She felt like he was judging her. Or sizing her up to see if she would make a good meal. The smaller hellhound pushed his brother aside and stuck his head over the fence, reaching out as far as he could to try and sniff Seulgi.

Yuri looked impressed. “Looks like they’ve taken an interest in you, well done. I can count on one hand the number of people who have managed to spark their interest over the years. Keep it up and maybe they won’t bite your hand off if you try to pet them.”

Seulgi was shocked. From the way Yuri was talking about Joohyun’s hounds earlier she had gotten the impression they were savage and mean (Not unlike Joohyun). While being near the two hellhounds made her legs quiver with some sort of primal fear she got the sense that they weren’t just giant killing machines. They had layers. Maybe she could start seeing Joohyun like that. There had to be more to the older girl than just an angsty sarcastic teenager with a tongue as sharp as a sword. She’d seen it a few times, like when Joohyun interacted with Yeri.

Speaking of Yeri, the younger girl returned from the stables wearing a purple helmet, and as she got closer the two hellhounds retreated back to the tree, laying down once again underneath its branches. The moment between them was gone. “I’m ready to go Yuri-nim!”

Yuri smiled at Yeri. “Then let’s go find you someone to ride. Seulgi, why don’t you go find a helmet that fits you too and once I help Yeri get situated we’ll find you someone to work with too.”

Seulgi nodded and broke away from the others. As she walked towards the stable, she could feel a smoldering ember gaze on her back.

XXX

Their riding lesson was over far too soon for Seulgi’s liking. She really enjoyed the feeling of getting to fly over the camp on the back of a Pegasus. Yuri had recommended an older mare named Dawn for her to ride and the two of them had hit it off almost immediately. Dawn was patient and willing to work with Seulgi as she worked through her fears of flying. By the end of the morning Seulgi was able to perform a few simple aerial exercises.

Yeri meanwhile had gotten paired with a hot-headed stallion named Havoc and the two of them were having the time of their lives together. Like minds, Seulgi thought as Yeri flew through the air, somehow able to keep up with a group of advanced students. Yuri spotted Seulgi looking at Yeri and laughed. The stablemaster assured Seulgi that while Havoc was stubborn he was an incredibly loyal Pegasus to be paired with. 

Seulgi and Yeri walked back to the dining pavilion for lunch and after that they parted ways so Seulgi could attend her afternoon combat class and Yeri could walk to the Big House for an appointment she had with Director Kim. Seulgi asked her what it was for and the younger girl merely shrugged. Her schedule didn’t mention what the meeting would be about.

Seulgi’s prowess during last night’s game had earned her a spot in one of the small-group sparring classes with some of the best fighters in camp. Something she quickly became hyper-aware of when she saw the group of mostly Ares and Athena campers gathering in the sparring rings. This was going to end one of two ways and Seulgi was fairly confident it would end up the second way. 

Sooyoung spotted her coming and waved her over. The Ares girl was talking to a young Hephaestus boy who Sooyoung introduced as soon as Seulgi joined them. “Seulgi this is Felix. He’s in charge of designing and creating all the weapons this class uses.”

“Nice fighting last night, Seulgi. I look forward to working with you,” Felix grinned. He had some kind of accent that Seulgi couldn’t quite place. It sounded Australian but Seulgi didn’t have enough experience with accents to know for sure. He was a handsome guy though and he had an incredibly deep voice for someone so cute looking.

“All right everyone that’s enough talking, we have work to do,” Joohyun barked, exiting the barracks, a pair of Athena kids dragging a table full of weapons between them. “You all know your combat pairs, warm up and get ready. Just because we’re not doing a full workout this afternoon doesn’t mean you have any excuse to slack off.”

Of course Joohyun would be in this class, Seulgi lamented. The daughter of Hades was a very good fighter, even unarmed as she’d proven last night during their scuffle with Suho and Kyungsoo. “Felix, I need you to work with Seulgi today to start assessing her for gear.”

“Aye aye,” Felix gave Joohyun a mock salute. Looks like not everyone was afraid of Joohyun, Seulgi noted.

Joohyun rolled her eyes, “Take Sooyoung too since Nayeon won’t be out of the infirmary until after class.”

Sooyoung’s eyes lit up and Seulgi found herself suddenly very nervous. She’d already faced Nayeon in one of their informal sparring classes and she wasn’t looking forward to having to face another child of Ares. Seulgi knew she wouldn’t be getting out of this class without at least a few new bruises to add to her collection.

XXX

“Thanks for helping me carry the last of my things over, Seungwan,” Seulgi said as she propped the Apollo cabin door open to allow Seungwan to squeeze by with the last of Seulgi’s belongings.

After her combat class Seulgi had walked back to the Hermes cabin to pick up her things so she could officially move over to the Apollo cabin. Seungwan had offered to help her. The two of them waited until after dinner to start moving Seulgi’s things, and by the time they finished the last round of moving the sun was beginning to set. 

“I wanted to see you off at least,” Seungwan replied, setting the box down on Seulgi’s new bed. She whistled, looking around at all the space in the Apollo dorm. “Gotta admit, I’m jealous. Not that you got claimed but because you’ve got a whole bunk to yourself.”

“I’m a little sad that Yeri wasn’t able to join us,” Seulgi pouted, sitting down on her bed and beginning to organize her things. “She told me she had a meeting up at the Big House but I thought she’d be done by now.”

Seungwan tilted her head, “Oh, you didn’t hear?”

“Hear what?” Seulgi narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She got the feeling she wouldn’t like what came out of Seungwan’s mouth next.

“Joohyun got called for a quest and she picked Sooyoung and Yeri as her partners. They left just after dinner.” Seungwan said.

“THEY WHAT?” Seulgi had heard about these “quests”. They sounded incredibly dangerous and she couldn’t believe Joohyun would pick a fourteen-year-old girl as one of her two partners. What was she thinking? Yeri could get killed!

“What are you so worked up about, Seulgi?” Seungwan asked. “It’s not like Yeri doesn’t have good people by her side. Joohyun and Sooyoung are both powerful demigods.”

“She’s a kid,” Seulgi growled. “I can’t believe Joohyun would be so irresponsible.”

Seungwan patted her on the back. “Don’t worry about Yeri, she’ll be fine out there. Most quests only end up lasting a week or so. She’ll be back before you know it.”

Seulgi shook her head. There was something nagging at her, something that told her that wherever Yeri, Joohyun and Sooyoung had gone it wasn’t going to end well. But she kept the thought to herself for the moment. There was no sense going to the Big House to tell Director Kim that she just had a “feeling” and that they should come home.

Seungwan tried to make Seulgi smile, “Hey, bright side? You won’t have Joohyun breathing down your neck about Ancient Greek grammar for a week.”

Seulgi scoffed at the other girl’s weak attempt to get her mind off the news she’d been given. Still, she smiled to show Seungwan she appreciated it.

They sat together on Seulgi’s new bunk and Seungwan regaled Seulgi with tales of her most exciting times working at the infirmary until the curfew horn sounded and she had to return to her own cabin. With one last goodbye, Seulgi was left alone as her new cabinmates started filing in.

She chatted for a while with Somi and Solar while she got ready for bed, unable to get rid of the feeling of unease in the pit of her stomach.

Seulgi had gotten close with Yeri over the last few days, somehow developing a kind of protective instinct towards the younger girl. She could tell she wasn’t the only one either, most people who met the blonde ended up falling in love with her bright and easygoing personality. Seulgi could only hope that wherever Yeri was she would be safe. 

_She has Joohyun, of course she’ll be safe,_ she scolded herself, pulling her sheets down and crawling into bed. Joohyun was a daughter of Hades, one of the most powerful demigods walking the planet right now.

_But then why do I feel so scared?_


	5. In Which Kang Seulgi Says Screw The Rules

That night Seulgi found herself once again in the middle of a dream so real she could have sworn she was there. Only this time she wasn’t inhabiting her own body.

She was chained to a rock by her wrists, the metal searing into her skin and making her eyes well up with unshed tears. Seulgi tried to wrench herself free but whatever metal the chains were made up of was too strong for her to break.

She could tell she was deep in some type of cave, the only light came from the two dozen or so pairs of glowing red eyes that stalked around her prison. Unintelligible grunts and growls could occasionally be heard, as if whatever creatures were around her were communicating with each other.

“The Sons of Lycaon are hungry,” The voice Seulgi heard appeared to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, seeping into her skull and almost driving her mad with fear. “It’s a shame I have bigger plans for you.”

“I look forward to watching my husband tear you to pieces,” Seulgi spat.

The voice inched closer, “How naïve of you to think that he’ll come save the day. Even now the only reinforcements I see coming are three. Little. Girls.”

Seulgi screamed and struggled against the chains until the pain became too much to bear and she slumped down on the cave floor, utterly exhausted.

“Your husband will do what we want. Especially if he wants to see you alive,” the voice taunted. “To think. All it took was for us to take _you._ ”

“You’ve heard the prophecy,” Seulgi panted. Golden ichor began to run down her arms. “You won’t succeed.”

The voice ignored her comment with a scoff. “You see this is why most gods choose not to form bonds with other immortals. It gives them a weakness.”

There was a single sharp whistle and the Sons of Lycaon who had been prowling around Seulgi’s prison suddenly leaped forward, wolfish jaws opened wide.

As the wolf hybrids began tearing into Seulgi’s flesh, she heard “Don’t cry, Persephone. It will all be over soon.”

XXX

Seulgi ran as fast as she could to the Hermes cabin, skidding to a stop by their front door with a wheeze. Thankfully nobody heard her stumbling up the steps in the pitch dark. She still didn’t know _how_ exactly she managed to have a vision of Persephone but after waking Somi up in a panic to ask her she found out about one of Apollo’s lesser-known abilities.

Somi explained that their father was also the god of Prophecy and told her the tales about the Oracle of Delphi. And how that Oracle was now a shriveled-up mummy living in the attic of the Big House but that was a story for another time. Demigods in general are prone to having prophetic dreams, the younger girl said. Occasionally a child of Apollo would be born with the ability to actually witness past, present and future events in time as if they were there. Which explained the visions.

But it didn’t explain the urges Seulgi felt to track the three girls down. It also didn’t explain why she knew deep down that she needed the help of one specific person.

Seulgi tiptoed around the front porch of the cabin and peered through one of the windows. It was a good thing Seungwan took the cot closest to the window. Seungwan said it was because nobody would take the floor space closest to the window and besides, she liked falling asleep under the moonlight.

Praying to whatever gods would hear her call, Seulgi tapped once on the glass. No response. She tried again, this time whispering “Seungwan!”

Seungwan turned over in her bed, muttering “Not right now Mr. Apollo sir, it’s too bright outside…”

Seulgi rolled her eyes and pitched her voice a little louder. “Seungwan!”

“Do you like jazz music, Olaf? I think Let it Go would have been _so_ much better with a jazz arrangement.”

Okay, now her friend was just talking nonsense. What kind of dreams was she having?

“ _WENDY!_ ” Seulgi hissed, and this time it seemed to get through. Seungwan shot up in bed, eyes darting around in the darkness until she spotted Seulgi’s face on the other side of the window. Her eyes widened and she pulled back her covers.

“Seulgi? What are you doing here, you’re gonna get in trouble!”

Seulgi jerked her head in the direction of the door, silently mouthing for Seungwan to join her outside. To which Seungwan vehemently shook her head and it wasn’t until Seulgi tried to climb into the cabin via the window that she reluctantly agreed to step outside and meet her.

Seungwan wrapped her robe around her body and expertly tiptoed past her fellow campers to slip outside.

“Seungwan, I need you to come with me,” Seulgi blurted out as soon as they were out of earshot of the cabin.

Her friend looked confused. “Come with you where exactly? Detention? We’re out here _way_ past the curfew, Seulgi.”

Seulgi took a deep breath. There was no turning back from this now. “I need to follow Joohyun on the quest she was assigned to.”

“The one she just left on? Is that even allowed?”

Seulgi hurriedly told Seungwan about her dreams, including the feeling she had about finding Joohyun and the others.

“If my dream was true that means someone out there has managed to capture a literal goddess. And if it really is Persephone that means someone out there is going to have the god of the Underworld in their pocket.” Seulgi paced around Seungwan in a figure eight pattern while she talked.

“That makes no sense, Seulgi. They’re _gods_. Who would be powerful enough and _stupid_ enough to kidnap a god?”

“I don’t know! But don’t you find it odd that Joohyun, the daughter of Hades, is sent out on a quest the _night_ before I get this dream? Joohyun’s been trying to get her father’s attention for years now, this is the perfect way to go about that.”

Seungwan tilted her head and nodded reluctantly. “Okay that sort of makes sense but—” she scowled. “We’re basing a lot of this off a prophetic dream you had. What if it was just a dream?”

Seulgi faltered, freezing in place. She was pretty sure that this wasn’t an ordinary dream but how do you convince someone that they should be potentially risking their life on a gut instinct? Seungwan would have to put a lot of trust in her and while they definitely were friends they hadn’t met all that long ago.

Seungwan watched her expectantly.

“But what if it wasn’t? Then we’re the only ones who can help Joohyun and the others. Nobody else knows where Persephone is being hidden.”

“Neither do you,” Seungwan pointed out.

“I’ve found her once already, I’m sure I can do it again,” Seulgi insisted. “And look, you’ve wanted to know who your godly parent is right? This could be your one chance to get noticed.”

Seungwan froze and in that moment Seulgi knew her idea was starting to gain traction with the other girl. Maybe it was a bit of a low blow to bring up Seungwan’s lack of claim and use it against her but this was of the utmost importance.

Seulgi pressed forward. “You told me yourself that you’re likely to get claimed when you accomplish something great, right? Something so big that it’ll _force_ them to notice you.” She looked at Seungwan. “I think saving a goddess qualifies, don’t you?”

Seulgi could see the gears turning in Seungwan’s head as she no doubt weighed the pros and cons of Seulgi’s plan. And judging from the huge sigh that came out of Seungwan’s mouth a moment later, she knew she had come out victorious.

“We’ll need weapons.”

XXX

“This is a bad idea,” Seulgi muttered, already starting to regret telling Seungwan about her plan. The two of them were crouched behind a bush in front of the camp armory, waiting for Argus to complete his nightly rounds. Currently the head of security was patrolling in front of the armory.

“Look, you want to do this? We’ll need some actual weapons,” Seungwan hissed, peeking over the top of the bush to check on Argus. “There’s bound to be monsters where we’re going.”

Seulgi had already run into the multi-eyed head of security when the Hermes kids tried to test her and she was _not_ looking to get caught by him again. They waited with bated breath until Argus had finished his rounds, not daring to move from their hiding spot until his heavy footsteps could no longer be heard.

“Let’s go,” Seulgi whispered, dashing out from behind the bush and reaching the door to the armory. She swore, noticing that it had been secured with a large silver lock. “Damn it.”

“Have no fear, Seungwan is here,” Seungwan said cheerfully, pulling out a set of lockpicks from her left boot. She crouched by the lock and began to pick it. Within seconds she had it open.

“I thought Yeri was the daughter of Hermes,” Seulgi whistled, impressed with the other girl’s quick success.

“You stay with those heathens long enough you begin to pick up a few things,” Seungwan replied, putting her lockpicks away and opening the door as quietly as she could, gesturing for Seulgi to go in first. “Ladies first.”

Seulgi rolled her eyes.

“Going somewhere?” a voice said. Seulgi and Seungwan froze.

Seulgi turned around to face whoever had caught them red-handed, but she didn’t recognize the slender man leaning against a tree. Seungwan seemed to know who he was though, because she looked like she was about to be sick.

“Lord Hermes,” Seungwan stammered, falling to one knee out of instinct.

Seulgi didn’t think the man looked like a god. But then again neither had Mr. D and she almost had her mind broken when they first met. So she decided to keep her mouth shut.

“I admit I don’t know much about this camp’s inner workings, but I’d think being out past curfew and breaking into the camp’s armory is against the rules. Or have things changed since I last visited?” Hermes uncrossed his arms, an amused smile on his face.

The god of messengers and thieves wore a simple pair of khakis and what looked like the type of shirt a mailman would be seen in. He clutched a staff in one hand and Seulgi could swear the snakes that wrapped around it were moving.

“Forgive us, Lord Hermes,” Seungwan said, avoiding direct eye contact with the god. This was not the way she wanted to meet the figure whose cabin she’d been sleeping in for the last four years.

Hermes waved off the apology and approached Seulgi. “You didn’t answer my question, Seulgi.”

Seulgi gulped. Of course he knew her name. All the same she looked at him straight in the eyes and said, “We need to go after Joohyun, Sooyoung and Yeri.”

Hermes tilted his head curiously. “And why do you need to do that? They’ve been given a prophecy and sent out on a quest, you’re not to interfere.”

Seungwan tried to pull Seulgi to her, to tell her not to provoke a god even if he was being friendly but Seulgi didn’t seem to get the message. “They don’t know where Persephone is. I do.”

At this, Hermes stepped back. “Interesting. Nobody outside of my brother and the three young campers given the prophecy should know of the nature of the quest.”

“Seulgi’s a daughter of Apollo,” Seungwan said. “She told me she had a dream about Persephone and that she was trapped. The fact that Joohyun, Sooyoung and Yeri get assigned a quest only a few hours beforehand? It seemed to line up too much to be false.”

Hermes nodded. “Seulgi is right about Persephone. The Underworld is in an uproar right now and Hades is threatening to abandon his duties until she is found. I don’t think I need to tell you why that is a very bad thing.”

Seulgi didn’t know much about Hades or what duties he was responsible for overseeing but she knew that if the balance between life and death was upset too much things would start to go awry. She was very surprised when instead of smiting her into ash or turning her into a tortoise Hermes handed them both backpacks. 

“Well? They’re headed for downtown Manhattan,” Hermes raised an eyebrow. “If you hurry you can meet them there.”

“You’re just letting us go?” Seulgi couldn’t believe what she was hearing? They had been caught red-handed breaking the rules and Hermes was going to let them go?

“The prophecy says someone is going to die. And I’d rather that _not_ include my daughter. I don’t care if she’s with two very powerful demigods, I won’t let Yeri lose her life because Hades is so lovesick he’s forgotten his duties. Everything you need is in those backpacks.”

Hermes turned away from them, his sandals sprouting wings. “Oh, and Seungwan? I wish you luck on your own journey. I may not be your father but I _have_ noticed you.”

Seulgi could feel Seungwan tense up beside her at the revelation. Hermes zipped off into the woods, his image soon swallowed up by the trees. The first hints of sunlight were just beginning to peak over the edge of the horizon.

“So that went well.” Seulgi turned to Seungwan, who still looked quite pale.

She opened the backpack Hermes had given her and rifled through its contents. There was a small stack of American currency, a plastic baggie full of what looked like solid gold coins, some snacks and a pair of brand-new celestial bronze daggers. Hermes had even managed to pack a spare set of Seulgi’s clothes, which both impressed her and creeped her out a little bit. How had he managed to get her clothes to her from the Apollo dorm?

“At least I know it’s not him now,” Seungwan whispered, looking past Seulgi in the direction of where Hermes had disappeared. “Gotta admit, I thought I’d feel better.”

Seulgi wrapped an arm gently around the shorter girl’s shoulders. Although Seungwan didn’t often show how she felt about being unclaimed after four years, it had to be difficult not knowing. It was probably always in the back of her mind. Seulgi couldn’t help but feel bad that her father had claimed her within a few days.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Seungwan sniffed, wiping a tear from her cheek. “Yeah. I’ll be fine. Besides, now I can cross Hermes off the list. You ready to head out?”

“To downtown Manhattan? I guess, but my English isn’t great. One time I saw this cute American girl on the street back in Seoul and instead of asking for her number I asked if she was an idiot.”

Seungwan chuckled. “We’ll be fine. I grew up in Canada. Just let Wendy take the lead.”

The two of them walked past the camp’s magical boundaries and towards the nearest road. As if it knew they were coming Seulgi pointed out a cab that was coming up the road. “Good thing Yeri’s dad is the patron god of travelers too.”

Seungwan was able to effortlessly communicate with the cab driver and told him where they were going. He adamantly refused to accept the golden drachmas Seulgi tried to offer him even after she tried to convince him they were made of real gold. Thankfully Seungwan was able to show him the wad of cash they’d been given so he’d agree to take them.

As Seulgi and Seungwan drove down the highway towards Manhattan, Seulgi pressed her nose against the window and watched as the sun rose above the city in front of her.

 _We’re coming guys._


	6. In Which Kang Seulgi Is NOT A No-Jam

Seulgi and Seungwan reached downtown Manhattan just after sunrise. Seulgi had of course heard of the infamous “city that never sleeps” but she’d never had the opportunity to visit. The epithet rang true, for even though it was early in the morning plenty of people could be spotted going to work. Seungwan had their driver drop them off in Times Square, throwing the entire wad of bills at him instead of counting out the correct fare. He looked more than satisfied and even offered them his card should they want to get picked up later.

“So where do we go now?” Seulgi asked, staring up at the many billboards with awe. “This place is huge.”

Seungwan shrugged. “You’re the one with the prophetic visions, you tell me.”

Seulgi huffed. Her visions didn’t work like that, as far as she knew anyway. But there was still that nagging feeling in her stomach that seemed to tell her to start walking. Things had worked out so far, she’d managed to convince Seungwan to join her and she’d even gotten help from Hermes. Maybe this was a part of her strange Apollo inheritance.

“Let’s go this way,” Seulgi said, leading Seungwan in the direction of the nearest subway station. “Something tells me we need to go this way.”

Seungwan shook her head like she didn’t quite believe what Seulgi was saying. “Alright. Lead the way.”

As they walked down the stairs and into the subway, Seungwan noticed that Seulgi didn’t seem to be paying attention to her surroundings at all. Her eyes stared straight ahead of her and she ignored everything around her. Much to the chagrin of the other subway riders. Seungwan had to constantly mutter apologies to everyone when Seulgi would just barge straight ahead regardless of who was in her way. “Seulgi. Are you okay?”

No response. Seungwan waved a hand in front of her friend’s face and still got nothing. “Seulgi this is kinda creepy even for you.”

It was almost as if Seulgi was in a trance. Something about it screamed “demigod power” to Seungwan so she stuck to Seulgi’s side like glue, gently herding her through the crowded subway and paying for their tickets.

She let Seulgi lead them onto a train, and they sat next to each other while the subway left the station. In her current state Seulgi wasn’t any good for talking so Seungwan struck up a conversation with a young Korean man who was on his way home to visit his parents. Lee Taemin attended Julliard on a full scholarship and hoped to one day be on Broadway if the stars aligned.

There was also something about his demeanor that screamed “demigod” to Seungwan but she wasn’t about to open that particular can of worms on the subway. Besides, if he truly _was_ a demigod he should have set off the camp’s radar when he was a young teenager. Of course Seulgi hadn’t set off their radar either and she was sixteen. Maybe their radar needed fixing, Seungwan thought.

Twenty minutes later Seulgi got up and stood in front of the subway’s automatic doors. Seungwan took that as her cue to follow and after bidding farewell to Taemin she followed Seulgi off the subway. One escalator ride later had them reemerging topside. A quick glance at the signs posted around them told Seungwan they had ended up at the World Trade Center.

She remembered hearing about the devastating terrorist attacks that happened in 2001. Seungwan hadn’t even been born yet but her parents told her about how people all across the world came together to pitch in, doing things like sending teddy bears to the friends and families of the victims.

A giant memorial had been constructed at Ground Zero so people could remember those that had been lost. There was even a museum that people could visit to learn about 9/11 and the impact it had on the country. The memorial had been built kind of like an inverse fountain. Instead of water falling from above like a traditional fountain, it started at ground level. The water cascaded downwards about twenty feet into a reflection pool below.

Seungwan thought it was pretty and she made a mental note to buy Tzuyu a postcard from the museum if they had time. The daughter of Athena would absolutely lose her mind at the scope of architecture. She glanced over at Seulgi and noticed the taller girl seemed to be coming out of her trance. “Are you back with us, Seul?”

Seulgi blinked, disoriented. “Where…where are we?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Seungwan replied. The last thing Seulgi remembered was getting out of the taxi and getting a feeling that told her to go in a certain direction. Seungwan filled her in from there.

“Something told me if I followed this feeling I’d find Joohyun, and by extension the others.” Seulgi shielded her eyes from the rising sun and looked around at their surroundings. “I don’t see them though. Maybe I was wrong.”

Seungwan turned around to reassure Seulgi that things would be okay when she saw something that made her jaw drop open. “No, I think it’s safe to say your ‘feeling’ was correct.”

She grabbed Seulgi by the shoulders and twirled her around so she faced the same direction as Seungwan. She pointed at a group of tourists who were standing in front of a large bronze statue of a dog wearing a search and rescue vest. As they moved away, not more than a dozen feet away from them, was a familiar trio of girls.

Joohyun, Sooyoung and Yeri stood in front of the large bronze statue. Sooyoung and Yeri looked bored out of their minds while Joohyun stared up angrily at the bronze dog, muttering something in Ancient Greek under her breath.

“I literally can’t believe we managed to find the three of them in a city this large,” Seungwan said as they edged closer to the three demigods. Neither Seulgi nor Seungwan wanted to approach them, after all what they were doing was technically illegal according to the camp’s rules on questing and prophecies. Whoever received a prophecy would select no more than two companions to travel with. And as far as anyone knew that rule had never been broken. Until now.

“What’s Joohyun doing?” Seulgi asked. She still couldn’t believe that her intuition led her to Joohyun and it creeped her out. Weird visions were one thing, after they were over she would wake up back in her bed. There were no lasting side effects. But strange trances that took over her body? No thank you.

“From my point of view she looks like a crazy lady talking to a dog statue,” Seungwan said blithely. They had inched close enough to the three unaware demigods to clearly see what Joohyun was doing.

Inserting themselves into a new pack of roaming tourists so Sooyoung and Yeri wouldn’t spot them, Seulgi and Seungwan waited.

Unfortunately their disguise didn’t hold up very well against a certain fourteen year old’s perception skills.

“Damn it, Yeri spotted us!” Seungwan swore, attempting to hide behind a six-foot-tall German man. Seulgi tried to hide behind his equally tall wife but they suddenly found the concrete crumbling apart, the ground underneath them rising up to trap their feet in place.

Sooyoung approached them, her bronze spear held high. Her machine gun was strapped firmly to her back and belatedly Seulgi wondered how in the hell she’d managed to get anywhere in the city with an assault weapon on her person. Nobody around them seemed to care either. It’s like they couldn’t see it. “What the fuck are you two no-jams doing here?”

“Uh…would you believe we’re here to be tourists?” Seungwan asked, unsuccessfully trying to yank her feet out of the ground. “Yeah, Seulgi here has never been outside of Korea so I thought she should get to experience the wonders New York City has to offer.”

She gave Seulgi a pointed look and the other girl started, “O-of course. I’ve always wanted to see Broadway.”

“Broadway’s in the opposite direction, loser,” Joohyun said, coming up behind Sooyoung. A scowl was set firmly on her face. But Seulgi couldn’t help but stare behind the daughter of Hades. Padding along at Joohyun’s heels, woofling at Seungwan, was a black Labrador Retriever that looked uncannily like the one on top of the statue.

Seulgi diverted her gaze and sure enough there wasn’t a dog on top of the statue anymore.

“Whoa. Did you really bring that statue to life?” Seulgi couldn’t help but coo at the dog, who had taken an interest in Yeri’s shoes and was trying to nibble on her shoelaces.

Joohyun didn’t seem to want to have anything to do with the dog she’d awakened, steadfastly ignoring it when it tried to nose her hand to see if she had any treats. “He’s not a statue. This is Procyon, one of Orion’s hunting hounds.”

“You mean like Canis Major?” Seungwan cut in. “One of the dogs that follows behind Orion’s constellation?”

“After Orion was killed, Artemis asked Zeus to immortalize his heroic deeds,” Sooyoung said, crouching down to scratch Procyon behind his floppy ears. The dog looked up at her with wide brown eyes and Sooyoung grinned. “Who’s a good boy? He is!”

“So he did, placing two of his most faithful hounds in the skies as well so he wouldn’t have to hunt alone,” Yeri finished for Sooyoung, who had completely fallen in love with the black lab. “Artemis herself gave Orion these dogs, supposedly they’re able to track anything.”

“Which doesn’t explain what you two idiots are doing here,” Joohyun said, looking more than happy to leave the dog wrangling to Sooyoung. Procyon seemed to have bonded with the Ares girl and sat faithfully at her heels, occasionally looking up at Sooyoung to ask for attention.

“Long story,” Seungwan said, scratching the back of her head. “But basically, we know about Persephone.”

The tourists had cleared out for the time being, leaving the five of them (plus one dog) standing in front of the now empty memorial. There was an awkward silence that was only broken by the occasional impatient huff from Procyon. 

Joohyun scoffed. “That’s impossible, Director Kim or Mr. D must have told you. There’s no way anyone outside the three of us heard the prophecy.”

“I had a dream,” Seulgi said quickly. “Persephone is trapped in a cave somewhere and there were a bunch of those ugly wolf hybrids.” She shivered, unconsciously running her hands over her neck, remembering the sheer feeling of terror and pain she felt when they had torn into her skin. Torn into _Persephone’s_ skin.

Joohyun looked liked she wanted nothing more than to punch Seulgi. “So you decided to hijack my quest to what? Prove yourself?”

Seulgi had had enough. People thought that because of her easygoing personality she could be treated like a doormat and walked over. And sure, she considered herself to be a competitive person but she knew when it was appropriate to be so. “You think everything’s about you, don’t you Joohyun?”

“Seulgi—” Seungwan tried to stop the other girl from saying something she’d regret but Seulgi ignored her.

“There’s something out there that’s powerful enough to entrap a goddess and all you’re worried about is if I’m here to what, take away all your glory? I get it, your dad’s an asshole and you probably think the only way to get him to notice you more is to successfully find his wife but guess what, _Irene?_ Sometimes there are things more important than you.”

Joohyun seemed surprised that Seulgi would actually talk back to her. She closed her mouth and nodded once, turning around and gesturing for Sooyoung and Yeri to follow her. “We’re done here. If I were you I’d take Vision-girl back to camp, Seungwan. I already have two girls to look after, I don’t need anyone else.”

“Joohyun, you have to admit Seulgi having a vision of Persephone the night you leave for a quest is a little suspect. You know Apollo is the god of prophecy,” Seungwan tried to make the older girl see sense.

“Plenty of demigods have prophetic dreams,” Joohyun said dismissively. “Besides, how do you know what Seulgi dreamed was true? She could be lying.”

Seulgi was furious but one look from Seungwan had her clamping her mouth shut.

“I don’t know if she was telling the truth,” Seungwan admitted. “But I do know that she cares about everyone here, even you Joohyun. We’ve all heard about how some children of Apollo are able to witness events in time. Just because it’s a rare trait doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. She risked her safety coming here to tell you about Persephone.”

The corner of Joohyun’s lip trembled and Seulgi swore the older girl growled under her breath. But even she had to admit that Seungwan brought up some good points. If Seulgi really did have a vision of Persephone maybe they’d be able to use that to find the missing goddess.

“Unnie?” Yeri asked meekly, tugging on Joohyun’s sleeve.

“What is it, Yeri?” Joohyun asked, not taking her eyes off Seulgi. She really didn’t want to add two more people to her quest, that just made everything more difficult. And she _really_ didn’t want Seulgi to tag along. But the more she thought about it the more it made sense to bring them along.

“Did you call up that portal?” Yeri pointed at a dark portal that was materializing on the other side of the memorial. As the four other girls turned to see where she was pointing the portal flared and six dark winged shapes shot out of the portal, heading straight for them.

“What port—oh fuck me.” That _definitely_ wasn’t her portal. As the winged shapes drew closer Joohyun swore again. Procyon started barking like mad at the figures.

“Keres!” Sooyoung yelled, stowing her spear away and drawing her submachine gun. “All six of them!”

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock,” Joohyun said, sheathing her swords and beginning to call up a portal of her own. A second, smaller portal poofed into existence right next to them, and a long snarl came from the depths of the coalescing shadows. “Tofu, Kimchi, I need you!”

At her call, the two rhino-sized hellhounds Seulgi had seen yesterday morning at her riding lesson bounded out of the portal. The massive hounds flanked the much smaller Joohyun and growled menacingly at the Keres.

“DIE!” one of them screamed as it dove towards Joohyun, taloned fingers outstretched. Joohyun stood stock still as the Ker got closer and closer. Just as the Ker was about to slash Joohyun’s throat one of the hellhounds lunged for the death-spirit, cleanly separating its head from the rest of its body.

As the Ker’s headless corpse tumbled to the ground, already starting to disintegrate into a fine yellow dust, her five siblings screeched in anger. Their eyes glowed orange and as one they snapped their gazes onto Joohyun. She gulped. “Uh, guys? Run.”

As if they suddenly remembered how to, the five girls turned and bolted for the park down the street, the five remaining Keres following somewhere close behind. Seulgi couldn’t believe that none of the mortals around them couldn’t see the clearly malevolent shadow sprits that were chasing them.

“What the Hades are those things?” Seulgi panted, keeping her eyes trained on Yeri who was running in front of her.

“Keres. Death spirits from the Underworld. They represent violent death,” Seungwan huffed. “They’re _supposed_ to stay in the Underworld. I don’t know what they’re doing here or why they attacked.”

“Hermes said Hades was neglecting his duties as god of the Underworld right?” Seulgi said. “Whoever’s got Persephone now has Hades under their thumb.”

“And by default all the creatures that serve him,” Seungwan replied, realization dawning on her face. “Great. Where the hell are we even running to anyway, Joohyun?”

“She has no idea,” Sooyoung spat, looking at them over her shoulder. Procyon bounded at her heels. “Right, Joohyun?”

“What you mean she doesn’t know?” Seulgi said in horror. “Those things are getting closer!”

The Keres were slowly beginning to overtake them, and they couldn’t keep running forever. Demigods were strong, but not even they could hope to outrun a pack of monsters on foot. Seulgi didn’t think dying at the hands of creatures whose specific talent was _violent death_ was a good plan.

“We need something with Persephone’s scent on it in order to track her,” Joohyun explained as they raced into the park, dodging trees, bushes and mothers with their children. “So if any of you know how to do that, by all means, take the lead.”

One of the Keres dove straight for Yeri, causing the blonde to trip and tumble to the ground. Joohyun immediately skidded to a stop and turned around to help her, narrowly avoiding a second Ker who tried to take a swipe at her. Kimchi and Tofu made short work of her, blanketing the ground in yellow dust.

As one Ker fell however, the remaining ones seemed to get stronger. Sooyoung and Joohyun had reached Yeri, protecting her while the younger girl struggled to get to her feet. The fall looked rough though, and Yeri cried out in pain. Seulgi saw she couldn’t put any weight on her left leg.

Seulgi was soon distracted by a duo of Keres who honed in on her and Seungwan. One of them reached for Seungwan, the other for Seulgi, and the skirmish began in earnest.

The Keres were smaller than the Sons of Lycaon Seulgi had faced earlier, but they were still taller than her. Their leathery black wings added to their imposing image, along with the glowing orange eyes.

One of them tackled Seulgi, screeching something in Ancient Greek that sounded like an insult and sending her flying backwards. She landed on her back, gravel biting into her body and making her wince. The backpack Hermes had given her had taken most of the impact, but it still hurt. The Ker dashed towards her and pinned her to the ground, trying to get its sharp claws around her neck.

Seulgi wished she had remembered to draw her daggers out of her backpack and had to settle for grabbing onto the Ker’s wings to try and unbalance it.

She could hear Seungwan struggling with the other Ker, the shorter girl occasionally breaking up the struggle with what sounded like English swear words. There was an inhuman shriek, a triumphant yell of ‘fuck you’, a puff of yellow dust and suddenly the Ker on top of her got even stronger.

Three of the Keres had been slain, the two surrounding Joohyun, Yeri and Sooyoung and the one straddling Seulgi attempting to garrote her. Seulgi felt herself slowly losing the fight against the Ker’s growing strength. She closed her eyes and waited for the death spirit to slash her throat but the swipe never came.

She heard boots pounding on the gravel and she opened her eyes to see a pair of bronze scissors flash across her vision, sinking into the side of the Ker’s neck with a _thud_. It exploded into yellow dust, showering Seulgi and causing her to cough like mad.

“You okay?” Seungwan picked up her scissors from the ground and offered a hand to help Seulgi up.

“Yeah,” Seulgi wheezed, trying to catch her breath. “What about the others?”

Now that there were only two Keres left, Joohyun and Sooyoung had an easy time dispatching them. Sooyoung expertly tossed her spear at one, pinning one of its wings to a tree and then drawing her gun and riddling the death spirit with celestial bronze bullets. It shrieked, dissolving into dust.

Joohyun faced the remaining Ker, who had drawn energy from her fallen siblings and grown in size. She whistled and her hellhounds surrounded the death spirit. “Why are you doing this, Stygere?”

“You must not go any further,” the Ker hissed, eyeing the two hellhounds warily. “It has been ordered.”

“By my father?” Joohyun needed to hear the answer. She needed to know if her father really was ready to kill her in order to obey the wishes of whoever kidnapped his wife.

“Lord Hades says you cannot interfere further, Joohyun,” Stygere said again. “So we come. And we’ll keep coming.”

Joohyun sighed. Part of her knew that was what she’d hear but that didn’t mean it hurt any less. “Try me.”

She drew one of her swords and with a shimmer of shadowy magic it transformed into a giant two handed axe. “Give my father my regards, would you? No one hurts my friends and gets away with it.”

She hurled the axe at Stygere, burying the blade deep into the Ker’s chest and watching as she disintegrated.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment as everyone took the time to breathe and come to terms with the fact that they had just faced a representation of death and lived.

“Well I’m starving,” Seungwan said, breaking the silence. She reached into her slightly squashed backpack and pulled out a pomegranate, breaking it open and offering some to Seulgi. “Good thing Hermes had the foresight to pack us a few snacks, huh, Seulgi?”

Seulgi took the piece of offered fruit and the realization hit her like a truck. “Wait…Joohyun! Get the dog, I think I know how to track Persephone!”

She held out the bit of pomegranate to Procyon and watched as the dog took one sniff and yipped, tail wagging back and forth.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Sooyoung said, supporting an injured Yeri and looking at Seulgi with what looked like respect. “Maybe it was a good thing you came along after all.” 


	7. In Which Kang Seulgi Almost Gets Skewered By A Tour Guide

Seulgi didn’t know how she kept ending up in these kinds of situations. Sure, she knew the second she left Camp Half-Blood with Seungwan things were going to take a turn for the weird, but she wasn’t expecting _this._

“Seulgi, what color leash should we get? Procyon looks like the type of dog who would appreciate blue…”

She honestly thought she would prefer fighting the Keres again to standing awkwardly in the middle of a bougie pet shop, the tinny sound of Lady Gaga being piped through the loudspeaker system, while Sooyoung took her time looking over the multitude of different collars and leashes, trying to pick out the perfect one for their new hound companion.

Procyon was their only lead to find Persephone and now that he had her scent the hound kept trying to wander off in order to track the scent of his prey. Which Seulgi couldn’t fault him for. He was a working dog after all, but after their motley crew nearly lost him when he bounded out of the park after their fight it was decided that they needed some way to keep him on leash.

“I’m sure he’d look great in blue,” Seulgi assured the daughter of Ares. Sooyoung seemed to have become very attached to their canine companion and the feeling appeared to be mutual. Procyon stuck to Sooyoung’s side like glue, refusing to take commands from anyone else.

Which Joohyun seemed to appreciate. It was odd, Seulgi could have sworn the daughter of Hades was a dog person, seeing as she had two gigantic hellhounds at her beck and call. But Joohyun seemed to be terrified of Procyon and adamantly refused to have anything to do with him. It was a paradox for sure but she decided to take that bit of knowledge, and like the rest of the things she’d learned over the last week, simply accept it and move on.

“You’re right, it really brings out the color of his fur,” Sooyoung agreed, picking out a matching sky-blue harness and leash and marching up to the cashier to pay for it. Her English was almost as good as Seungwan’s and Seulgi watched as she confidently dealt with the young man at the front. Before she knew it, Seulgi was being dragged out of the pet store by her arm and taken back outside.

Seulgi and Seungwan walked around the corner and spotted the rest of their gang seated around a table in front of a small café. Joohyun’s hellhounds were sprawled behind them, red eyes carefully watching each and every mortal that passed by. Seulgi still didn’t know _how_ people seemed to be so blissfully unaware of them and she vowed to ask Joohyun about it the first chance she got.

“How’s your leg doing Yeri?” She asked, grabbing a chair from another table and joining them. Sooyoung meanwhile easily grabbed a hold of Procyon and managed to fasten his new harness around his chest before he could wriggle out of her grip. 

Yeri smiled, “I’m feeling a lot better, Seulgi unnie. Seungwan unnie gave me some ambrosia and fixed most of it right up.” She hiked up her pant leg to show Seulgi. All that remained of her encounter with the Keres was a small bruise that looked like it was quickly fading away. “I was told to take it easy for the rest of the day just in case.”

It was moments like this that made Seulgi glad she brought Seungwan along. Even though Apollo children were handy with healing, Seulgi knew that Seungwan blew her out of the water when it came to healing prowess.

“It’s a good thing we’re not too far away from our next destination,” Joohyun added, sipping absentmindedly on her tea, eyes focused on the map of the city she held in her other hand. “With luck we shouldn’t run into any other roadblocks.”

“Where are we going anyway?” Seulgi asked, trying in vain to read the map upside down.

Joohyun pointed at a small island in the middle of a body of water called the Upper Bay. “There.”

Seulgi gently pried the map from Joohyun’s fingers and turned it around so she could see where the older girl had pointed.

“We’re going to the Statue of Liberty?”

XXX

The ferry to Liberty Island cost them a good chunk of their remaining mortal currency but at least the ticket-seller didn’t charge them extra for the two giant hellhounds.

“Joohyun? How come nobody seems to be able to see Tofu and Kimchi?” Seulgi asked as the five of them boarded the tourist ferry. The boarding ramp shuddered under the weight of Joohyun’s hellhounds but nobody seemed to notice.

“It’s because of the Mist.” Joohyun must have thought that was a satisfactory answer but upon looking at the confused expression on Seulgi’s face she sighed audibly and elaborated. “The Mist is basically a supernatural smokescreen conjured by Hecate, the goddess of magic. It twists a mortal’s sight to conceal things like gods, monsters and other strange things from view.”

“So people just don’t see the hellhounds?”

Joohyun looked over her shoulder to see Tofu and Kimchi lounging on the deck, tongues lolling out casually. Dozens of other tourists had boarded the ferry as well and all of them kept well away from the giant dogs.

“It’s more like they notice something’s there,” she pointed out to Seulgi. “But the Mist distorts what they’re seeing and replaces it with something mundane.”

Seulgi squinted and for a brief second she saw Tofu and Kimchi disappear, to be replaced with two large storage containers. “Whoa.”

“Crazy, huh?” Joohyun smiled at her and Seulgi felt her heart start to hammer in her chest again. Honestly she thought she preferred Joohyun being cold and distant, it made their relationship a lot easier to navigate. Because if she started feeling things when the older girl did something as simple as smile in her direction?

“Y-Yeah,” Seulgi hoped Joohyun didn’t hear the slight stutter in her words. Deciding it would be best for both of them if the conversation ended she inched away from Joohyun and went to join Yeri and Seungwan by the railing.

The two other girls were chatting animatedly with each other about who would win in a fight: a hundred goose-sized centaurs or one centaur-sized goose.

“No way would the goose win, sure he’s huge but centaurs are ridiculously rowdy,” Seungwan said confidently.

“You’ve met a centaur?” Yeri’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she looked up at Seugwan with awe.

Seulgi chuckled inwardly at the relationship both girls were cultivating with each other. Yeri was still young and impressionable and she seemed to look up to all of them. It was cute; Seulgi didn’t have any younger siblings to dote on back home and Yeri had quickly stolen her way into the missing part of Seulgi’s heart. _Must be that Hermes blood,_ Seulgi thought.

“Hey, Seulgi!” Seungwan chirped, scooting over so Seulgi could stand in between her and Yeri. “How is our dear leader doing?”

Seulgi hoped her cheeks didn’t betray her feelings, “She’s fine. I still don’t know what her plan is outside of getting to Liberty Island though.”

Seungwan hummed thoughtfully. “Don’t worry about it, that’s typical Bae behavior. She’s always been pretty tight-lipped about things.”

“You and her seem to not hate each other so much anymore though,” Yeri added. An evil-looking grin started spreading across her face. “So when’s the wedding?”

“YERI!” Seulgi hissed, whirling around to make sure Joohyun hadn’t heard the comment. Thankfully the older girl had moved to stand by her hellhounds, and was petting Tofu—or was that Kimchi? Seulgi still didn’t know which one was which.

“Ooh, I struck a nerve,” the blonde girl said. “I know you’re starting to like her, anyone with two eyes and twenty brain cells can see the way you look at her.”

Damn Hermes children. How were they so perceptive? “I don’t _like_ her,” Seulgi insisted, but she left off the “yet” that almost came out of her mouth.

Seungwan seemed to get the meaning though. “Joohyun certainly has a way of making you question everything.”

“Apparently that also includes your sexuality,” Yeri scoffed playfully, earning herself a half-hearted smack upside the head from Seulgi. “See? I’m right.”

“She hasn’t said anything mean to me in six hours,” Seulgi said. “I don’t think our relationship is getting anywhere past ‘cordial’ at this point.”

“Whatever you say, unnie,” Yeri didn’t sound at all convinced but dropped the conversation since Seulgi looked a bit uncomfortable, choosing instead to change the subject entirely. “Hey, has either Joohyun or Sooyoung told you two about the prophecy? I figured since you guys are here to stay you should be allowed to know what we’re going to be up against.”

Seulgi shook her head. Both the daughter of Ares and the daughter of Hades were suspiciously tight-lipped about the prophecy.

_Five shall go west to the goddess in chains_

_The knowledge she seeks you will obtain_

_Together you will tread an endless hall_

_But to acid and fire one will fall_

_And when your hope seems all but gone_

_Solace will come with the break of dawn_

“Well that was delightfully vague,” Seulgi said, scratching her head. Hermes had told her and Seungwan that one of them was going to die, but the only line she could see has being interpreted as such was the line about acid and fire. “Are all prophecies supposed to be ambiguous like that?”

“Don’t ask me, I’m not an Oracle,” Yeri answered, looking out at the slowly encroaching figure of the Statue of Liberty in the distance. “But the first part’s already come true. Three of us set out on this quest and then you guys joined us. _Five shall go west to the goddess in chains.”_

That comment made Seulgi think. If the first line had already come true what was really in store for them next?

“I wouldn’t spend too much time thinking about it,” Seungwan said, almost as If she noticed the cogs beginning to turn in Seulgi’s brain. “There are probably an infinite amount of ways this prophecy could be interpreted, if we let it consume our thoughts we might miss what’s right in front of us.”

The ferry lurched underneath their feet and they slowed down noticeably as the ferry approached the dock. Seulgi leaned over the railing. “Whoa.”

She’d seen pictures of the Statue of Liberty of course but now that she was so close to it she couldn’t help but feel small and helpless. The entire island seemed to give off a vibe of barely contained power, and knowing what she now knew she wouldn’t be surprised if there was some strange link to the world of the gods here too.

“Let’s go, you three,” Joohyun brushed by them, Kimchi and Tofu padding along a few feet behind her. She looked agitated and Seulgi wondered what had gotten the older girl so worried.

Seulgi turned to Seungwan and Yeri, “Is it just me or does Joohyun seem a little…off?”

“It’s not just her,” Seungwan said, pointing subtly at Sooyoung who was gripping Procyon’s leash so tightly her knuckles were turning white. “I feel it too, there’s something on this island that shouldn’t be here.”

XXX

“Welcome to Liberty Island, home of the Statue of Liberty!” a cheerful blonde woman called out as soon as they disembarked. Her nametag read “Cam” in neat blocky letters. “Please take your time and look around the island. The museum and café are open until five. For those of you who have VIP tickets please make sure to be at the designated tour point at least fifteen minutes before your scheduled departure.”

“I’m glad I’m off that ferry,” Joohyun groaned. “I prefer having solid ground underneath my feet thanks. Sooyoung, how’s Procyon doing?” Their canine companion was busy smelling the trunk of an old withered tree, looking for all the world like a normal dog. “Glad to see he’s enjoying himself.”

Sooyoung gently tugged on Procyon’s leash to get his attention. “So what’s our next move? Why Liberty Island?”

“For years this place was a beacon of hope for mortals, one of the first things they saw when their boats came to America. There’s power here, can’t you feel it? I figured this was as good a place to start as any.” Joohyun whistled and her hellhounds immediately came bounding to sit at her heels. She gave each one a scratch behind the ears and conjuring up one of her portals. “Thank you for coming to our aid, but I think it’s time we part ways for now.”

Tofu whined and stuck his head out to nuzzle Joohyun as if to say _We don’t want to leave you._

“I swear on the River Styx that I’ll call on you again if we need it,” she promised, and the ground underneath their feet rumbled. Swearing on the River Styx was one of the most serious oaths one could make.

Both hellhounds seemed satisfied with her answer and with one last look at the girls they bounded through the portal and disappeared. As the portal faded away, Joohyun turned away from the other girls and Seulgi thought she saw a tear running down the older girl’s cheek.

Seulgi wondered why she suddenly dismissed her giant guard dogs but decided not to ask Joohyun about it. Their last interaction had been civil, bordering even on friendly, and Seulgi didn’t want to ruin her streak of luck.

Joohyun cleared her throat and addressed the four girls gathered in front of her.

“All right. Seungwan with Seulgi, Sooyoung with Yeri. We need to split up and look around the museum. There has to be _something_ here that gives us a clue as to where we go next.”

XXX

“Split up and look around,” Seungwan whined, mimicking Joohyun’s voice as she walked around the museum with Seulgi. “Not that I have a better plan in mind, but if we don’t know what to look for how are we supposed to know if we’ve found it?”

Seulgi shrugged, making sure to at least take a look at every informational stand and exhibit they passed by. Seungwan was right of course, Joohyun didn’t tell them what they should be looking for. It made searching for clues a lot more difficult.

“What are you doing so far away from home, little demigods?” a voice hissed, startling both Seulgi and Seungwan and making them freeze in their tracks.

“Seungwan? I think we found it,” Seulgi whispered.

“Don’t mind us, we’re just taking in the sights!” Seungwan squeaked, not sounding convincing in the least. Neither of them wanted to turn around and face the likely terrifying monster behind them but the other three girls were nowhere to be seen.

Seulgi inhaled deeply and steeled her nerves grabbing onto Seungwan’s wrist and whirling them around to gaze at the monster.

Only to drop her friend’s hand in surprise. The only person in front of them was that blonde tour guide they had seen earlier. Except now the blonde tour guide was holding a wicked-looking polearm and her bottom half was slowly melting away to be replaced with that of a snake.

“Draecena,” Seungwan whispered in fear, drawing her celestial bronze scissors and motioning for Seulgi to ready her own weapons. “Or snake ladies if you want to be rude.”

“I asked you a question!” The Draecena boomed, raising her polearm threateningly. “I suggest you answer before I impale your fragile bodies on my weapon like shish-kebabs.”

“Campe? Is that you?” Seulgi let out the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding when she heard Joohyun’s voice. She turned around to thank the older girl for saving them, but Joohyun was _smiling_ at the Dracaena. What?

“Joohyun?” The Dracaena looked surprised to see the daughter of Hades and quickly lowered her weapon. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought I saw you when we got off the ferry but I couldn’t be sure,” Joohyun walked over and gave the snake woman a hug, completely ignoring the dumbstruck looks on Seulgi and Seungwan’s faces. “How have you been, I thought Dad had you guarding one of the gates to Tartarus?”

Seulgi couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Joohyun was chatting with Campe like they were old school friends who hadn’t seen each other in ages. Why wasn’t Joohyun scared of the snake woman?

“I’m sure you’ve heard about Persephone,” Campe said, leaning on her polearm casually, her speech pattern slipping back into that of her cheerful tour guide disguise. “Ever since she disappeared Lord Hades has been acting completely out of character. He fired me. _ME!_ I’ve been guarding the gates to Tartarus for him for millennia and this is how he thanks me?”

“Who’s the strange snake lady Joohyun-unnie is talking to?” Yeri and Sooyoung sidled up next to Seulgi, the blonde girl munching on a chocolate croissant and watching the exchange intently. “And why aren’t they attacking each other?”

“I think they know each other,” Seungwan said dazedly.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Joohyun sympathized, patting Campe’s shoulder gently. And was Seulgi imagining things now or was the Dracaena _crying_?

“He-he didn’t even give me severance pay!” Campe sniffed, bringing the tip of her tail up to wipe the tears from her face. “I’ve had to take these horrible part-time jobs to stay afloat. It’s not like I have a long diverse resume like some of my other monster kin, I’ve been a guardian for thousands of years.”

Joohyun tilted her head. “Wait so if you’re not guarding a gate to Tartarus what _are_ you protecting?”

Campe raised her immaculately done eyebrows. “You don’t know? This is one of the entrances to the Labyrinth.” 

XXX

“Daedalus’ Labyrinth?” Joohyun repeated. “There’s an entrance _here?_ ”

“That must have been the power we were sensing,” Seungwan said, turning to Seulgi and Yeri who looked completely confused by the revelation. “I don’t know how far Joohyun has gotten in teaching you about Greek mythology, has she told you about the Labyrinth?”

Both of them shook their heads.

“The original myth has Daedalus’ Labyrinth in Crete,” Sooyoung interrupted, eyes still fixed on Joohyun and Campe as the two of them chatted. “You know, the one with the Minotaur?”

That part sounded familiar to Yeri and she chimed in with, “Oh! The monster Theseus slayed. The girl he liked gave him a ball of yarn so he could find his way out of the Labyrinth because it was so big. Pretty sure that story didn’t have a happy ending though…”

“Bingo. You’ve been studying, huh Yeri?” Sooyoung’s compliment had Yeri looking pleased with herself. “Of course it’s been millennia since then. The myth also never mentioned that Daedalus was a demigod too but that’s besides the point. Nowadays the Labyrinth stretches underneath the entire continental United States.”

Seulgi whistled. “Wow. Wait…what was that one line of the prophecy? _Together you will tread the endless hall._ Do you think that could be referring to the Labyrinth?” 

Sooyoung shrugged. “Could be. I wouldn’t know though, most prophecies are delightfully vague.”

“That’s what _I_ said,” Seulgi replied. Sooyoung shushed her, struggling to keep a hold on Procyon, who had perked up upon hearing the word “Labyrinth” and was now trying to pull Sooyoung in the direction of one of the exhibits.

He barked, and both Joohyun and Campe turned their heads to look at them.

“Sooyoung! Keep him quiet, we can’t afford anymore unwanted attention.”

“I’m trying!” Sooyoung growled, tugging at Procyon’s harness. “But I think he’s found something.”

With one particularly exuberant leap, Procyon bounded over to one of the heavily guarded display cases, dragging Sooyoung behind him and pressing his wet nose against the bulletproof glass and leaving behind a large nose-print.

“Your hound is quite observant,” Campe said, slithering over to Procyon and patting him on the head. Seulgi and the others quickly followed behind the Dracaena. She pointed at the object inside the case.

_“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame, "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"_

“This is the plaque that used to be attached to the base of the Statue of Liberty, right?” Seungwan breathed, staring at the weathered plaque. “I had no idea it mentioned the Colossus of Rhodes!”

“The who now?” Yeri said, looking unimpressed.

“She’s referring to the statue of Helios that used to stand at the entrance to Rhodes,” Campe explained, easily slipping back into her tour-guide demeanor. “The sonnet is saying that Greece can keep its “storied pomp”, and the Statue of Liberty will take those who are looking for a home.”

“It’s a symbol of hope,” Seungwan said. As all five girls huddled around the plaque it suddenly began to glow with a faint blue light.

“Interesting…” Campe stepped back, observing the girls. “It usually doesn’t activate….”

A blue Delta symbol etched itself onto the bottom half of the plaque, and the door to the adjacent maintenance room began to hum with energy, emitting the same soft blue glow. The glow faded and everyone jerked back simultaneously when the rusty door swung open with a creak.

Procyon tugged at his leash again and started whining, paws scrabbling at the floor as he tried to bolt for the door.

Joohyun gulped. “I was afraid of that happening.”

“Does this mean we’re going to Narnia?” Yeri joked.

Before any of them could answer, Procyon barked and broke free from Sooyoung’s grip, bounding into the darkness.


	8. In Which Son Seungwan Saves The Day

The minute Seulgi stepped past the door and into the Labyrinth proper she could sense the sheer amount of ancient magic around her. It was everywhere—the walls, the floor, even the air positively thrummed with a current of magical energy. It unnerved her, and some primal instinct in her body told her that even demigods weren’t supposed to be in a place like this for long. It also didn’t help that she was walking completely blind.

She waited for her eyes to adjust to the inky blackness but they never did, so she was stuck feeling along the walls and tapping the floor with her feet to make sure she didn’t do something stupid like trip and fall. Seulgi reached out blindly with her hands in front of her body, stifling the squeak of surprise when she brushed someone else’s shoulder. And judging from the lack of swear words, mean comments or thinly veiled rude jokes it was probably Seungwan.

“Seungwan, is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me. You know usually this would be the time I say something like ‘Wow, look at this place’ but I can’t see shit.”

“Would you two shut up?” Sooyoung hissed. “The last thing we need is to attract monsters.” She tapped her spear twice on the floor and the entire weapon lit up with a bright orange glow, lighting up the darkness around them.

Now that the hallway around them was visible, Seungwan took the opportunity to finish her earlier statement. “Wow, look at this place.”

“ _This_ is the vaunted Labyrinth?” Yeri asked, looking around. “It looks more like the inside of a sewer tunnel.”

There was a loud rumble underneath their feet, as if the Labyrinth itself resented Yeri’s remark.

“Please don’t antagonize the potentially sentient magical maze, Yeri,” Joohyun said.

Yeri quickly murmured an apology and kept any further remarks about their surroundings to herself.

“We need to find Procyon,” Joohyun continued. “We can’t afford to lose our only lead in this place.”

Almost as if he heard his name being called, there was a soft bark and Procyon came trotting out of the darkness ahead, sky-blue leash in his mouth. He looked up at Sooyoung with an almost apologetic look on his face and sat at her feet, tail nervously wagging back and forth.

“There you are!” Sooyoung gently pried the leash from the dog’s jaws, giving him a pat on the head. “Don’t you ever run away from us again.”

Procyon whined and Seulgi got the impression that he understood every word that came out of the daughter of Ares’ mouth.

Now that their little group was whole again the five of them set off down the hall with Sooyoung and Procyon at the lead.

It quickly became obvious that this place was a nightmare of long confusing passageways and doors. The Labyrinth seemed to respond to each and every move they made. Seulgi soon lost count of the turns they had taken, and it didn’t help that every so often the entire tunnel seemed to shimmer and take on a completely different form. One moment they were traipsing through a sewer tunnel and the next they found themselves tripping over the uneven stoneworks of what appeared to be a medieval dungeon corridor.

“Ugh this place is a nightmare,” Seungwan said scowling in disgust when the tunnel shimmered again and she found herself stepping in a large patch of mud. “I don’t suppose there’s any way to start over again, is there?”

The moment the words left her mouth they heard an ominous rumble and Joohyun sighed. “I really wish you hadn’t said that.”

Sure enough, when Seulgi turned around the path behind them had disappeared. Message received. There was no backtracking allowed.

“Fuck.”

XXX

Some hours later, as Procyon led the girls down yet another tunnel, Seulgi found herself wondering why exactly she insisted on following Joohyun on this quest.

All the twists and turns they had taken were starting to make her dizzy, and even with a supernatural tracking hound on their side she felt as though they were walking around in circles.

“Isn’t Daedalus supposed to test us?” she asked Joohyun as Procyon took yet another abrupt turn, leading them down a stone tunnel. “Right now all he’s testing is my patience.”

And maybe it was the flickering of the lightbulbs in the tunnel but Seulgi swore Joohyun had just smiled at her joke.

“Ask and you shall receive,” was the answer she got. Joohyun had stopped before the next door, holding everyone back. “The room ahead looks different from all the others we’ve been in.”

Sooyoung poked her head into the room. “Are you sure? It kind of looks like one we passed by like two hours ago…”

Joohyun narrowed her eyes. “Can’t you guys feel it? The magic is more concentrated up ahead.”

Seulgi focused on feeling the magic around her and sure enough, she felt a spike of magic in the direction of the room in front of them. How had she not noticed it before?

“I can’t feel anything,” Seungwan said dryly. “Except regret for agreeing to follow Seulgi on this quest.”

Seulgi rolled her eyes in Seungwan’s direction. They both knew that Seungwan had agreed to come with Seulgi of her own accord.

Joohyun readied herself. “Alright let’s keep moving. Just be on the lookout.”

XXX

Seulgi was the last of their group to pass the door’s threshold, and as soon as she did, the tunnel behind them disappeared again.

“That’s ominous,” Seungwan’s statement echoed everyone else’s feelings. The Labyrinth shuddered underneath them and water began to seep in through the cracks in the floor. “Great. I didn’t bring any extra socks.”

“I think that’s the least of our problems,” Seulgi stared at the water. Was it just her own imagination or was the water getting…?

“The water’s rising,” Yeri said, a note of panic in her voice.

“Damn it,” Joohyun swore, “We need to get out of here. Now.”

“There’s the door!” Seungwan yelled. Of course because they were in a demented hellish maze the door was completely sealed shut. “Damn it!”

“There has to be some way to open it,” Yeri said, looking around. “Look! On the walls!”

The youngest member of their party pointed at the runes lining the walls. Sure enough, some of them appeared to match the runes carved into the sealed door. “It’s a puzzle!”

“A timed puzzle,” Sooyoung added, as the water continued to rise past their ankles. “I’m guessing if we don’t find the right order in time we drown.”

“Oh now that’s a comforting thought,” Seulgi muttered. She was never good at puzzle games. There always seemed to be some kind of trick and she could never understand the hidden rules in time.

Joohyun darted to the sealed door and examined the runes. “These symbols look familiar…”

Seungwan joined her, peering at the markings. She snapped her fingers, a grin on her face. “These are the symbols we use to represent the gods at camp. See? That’s the one that appeared above Yeri’s head when she arrived and _that_ one is the one on the Ares flag.”

“Okay but in which order do we press them in?” Joohyun pressed the symbol for Zeus and the stone behind the symbol glowed red briefly.

“That wasn’t right,” Yeri said, the water now up to her knees. Procyon seemed to be oblivious to the impending flood and was busy having fun splashing in the water like the retriever he was. “The water’s rising faster now.”

Joohyun swore. “So order matters. We can’t afford to make a wrong decision here.”

They stood in silence for a precious few seconds as the water continued to rise.

“Daedalus was the son of Athena, right?” Yeri asked. “They’re known for their love of puzzles and architecture. He would have put a clue somewhere.”

Seulgi wracked her brains for a possible solution but she was coming up empty. She simply didn’t know enough about the world of demigods to make an informed opinion. Yeri on the other hand had been studying with Joohyun and Sooyoung for months back at the academy in Seoul.

But she _had_ taken an architecture class at one of her old schools. The school board had cut funding to traditional art classes and replaced them with architecture classes in the hopes of inspiring more young students to study the profession. Seulgi had hated it but there were a few things she still remembered after having vocabulary drilled into her head day after day.

“Maybe look for a cornerstone?” she suggested. “Most architects leave a mark or something like it, its like an artist signing their work.”

“Here!” Sooyoung called, grabbing everyone’s attention. The water had almost completely covered the cornerstone but Seulgi could see thin spidery letters had been carved into the rock. “It’s in Ancient Greek.”

“Pop quiz time Seulgi,” Joohyun grabbed Seulgi’s hand and walked her over to the cornerstone. If their current situation wasn’t so dire Seulgi probably would have freaked out a little. “What does it say?”

The water was now at waist level and continuing to rise.

_“The titan Kronos swallowed his children whole, fearing for his throne_

_Until Rhea birthed Zeus and instead handed him a stone_

_Zeus came of age, his hatred for his father burned_

_His siblings he needed to save, In which order were they returned?”_

“I KNOW THIS ONE!” Yeri yelled, clapping her hands with glee. Despite the situation everyone couldn’t help but smile at the proud look on their youngest’s face. “Joohyun-unnie made me study this chapter like a week before we got to camp! Kronos was afraid of the power his children might one day have so whenever Rhea gave birth he swallowed them whole, except for Zeus because his mother saved him and instead handed Kronos a stone to swallow. In order to rescue his siblings he gave Kronos something to make him throw up. The riddle is asking in which order did Zeus rescue his siblings?”

“So what’s the order?” Joohyun asked.

“The order he swallowed them in was Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon,” Yeri recited. “He upchucked them in reverse order!”

“We need the rune for Poseidon!” Joohyun yelled. The water was still climbing and had reached her shoulders.

“Got it!” Seungwan called, slapping the rune with a three-pronged trident. This time the symbol glowed green. “Where’s Hades?”

“Over here!” Seulgi said, pressing the rune with Joohyun’s signature skull symbol. “Hera’s next.”

“Found it,” Sooyoung said, pressing a peacock rune. The water had almost overwhelmed them. “Demeter’s symbol is a stalk of wheat.”

“Here,” Joohyun pressed the correct rune. “Last is Hestia. Hers should be a hearth.”

Yeri had to dive underwater to press the final rune. As soon as she did the stone stoor rumbled and began to slide open, draining the tunnel and depositing five very wet and very exhausted demigods and one carefree Labrador retriever into the next room.

Seulgi lay sprawled on the stone floor of this new room, trying in vain to catch her breath. _This place is way too dangerous,_ she thought.

Apparently Yeri seemed to echo her statement. “This place sucks.”

XXX 

The five of them looked like a group of half-drowned rats. And Seulgi definitely _felt_ like she was half-dead. She was completely soaked from head to toe,

“Sooyoung, get a fire started, we’re camping here for the night,” Joohyun ordered, taking in everyone’s haggard looking appearances.

The daughter of Ares nodded and began pulling supplies out of her backpack. “You know it’s a good thing those torches are made of Greek Fire cause…”

The fire-starting kit she had pulled out had been completely ruined by their recent activities.

“I kind of figured,” Joohyun sighed, approaching Yeri and dutifully checking over her like a concerned mother. It was rather heartwarming, Seulgi thought, watching as Joohyun made sure their youngest hadn’t gotten injured. She all but forced Yeri to sit and rest when the daughter of Hermes tried to get up and help Sooyoung with starting the fire.

“At least this room looks safe for now,” Seulgi commented, looking around. The Labyrinth had spit them out in a big open cavern. The sconces that lined the walls burned with a magical green fire and old broken mosaics hung between them, depicting various scenes from Greek mythology.

“I dunno, this feels like a save point before we have to face a big boss or something,” Yeri looked uneasy. They watched as Sooyoung carefully built a small fire pit, tossing the wet remains of the fire-starting kit in the center and grabbing one of the green torches.

“What’s she doing?” Seulgi asked.

“Greek fire isn’t like normal fire,” Yeri supplied, pointing to Sooyoung. “You have to be super careful because anything it touches bursts into flames”. Sooyoung gently tilted the torch downwards and with a whoosh of green light flames spread across the still damp firewood. “Even wet things.”

Seulgi sat back, impressed while Sooyoung rifled through everyone’s bags and pulled out their wet bedrolls, putting them as close to the fire as she could to dry them out without setting them aflame. 

Dinner that night was simple. She and Seungwan pulled out some ready-to-eat rations from their backpacks and shared them with the others. Once again they were thankful to Hermes for giving them water-proof backpacks--even their spare clothes had managed to escape the wrath of the flooded tunnel.

After dinner, Joohyun, Yeri and Seulgi sat together while Seungwan and Sooyoung played catch with Procyon using a tennis ball the daughter of Ares had picked up at the pet store earlier that day. It seemed like it was so long ago when in reality it had been maybe eight or nine hours. Time seemed to move differently in the Labyrinth though so Seulgi wouldn’t be surprised if they escaped and it turned out they’d only been underground for a few minutes.

“I freaked out the first time I saw Iris-nim. I’d literally just been told about the existence of the gods in our world and suddenly there was a strange lady in the water smiling at me and introducing herself as the goddess of rainbows.” Yeri was regaling Seulgi with tales of her time with Joohyun and Sooyoung at the Academy, before they’d picked up Seulgi. “I called everyone a bunch of weirdos and left.”

Joohyun laughed softly, “It took Yeri about a week and half before she approached us again to apologize. Of course this was _after_ she’d accidentally sent another student to the hospital with a broken leg after playing a little too roughly in PE class…”

Seulgi enjoyed watching the interactions between them, it proved that Joohyun wasn’t as frigid and unfriendly as many people thought, including her. Apparently it just took a certain kind of person to bring out the warm and caring side of the daughter of Hades.

“Well I’m beat. I think I’m gonna find someplace to curl up for the night,” Yeri said suddenly, standing up and dusting off her pants. “Good night Joohyun-unnie. Night, Seulgi-unnie.”

As she left she gave Seulgi a very pointed glare, as if to say “ _Go talk to your big gay crush already”._

Joohyun watched their youngest leave and leaned her head back against the wall of the cavern. “She’s up to something…”

“It’s Yeri, I think by default she’s always up to something,” Seulgi made sure Joohyun wasn’t looking before sticking her tongue out at Yeri. The two of them sat in a comfortable silence for a while, content to watch Seungwan and Sooyoung play with Procyon.

The Labrador bounced back and forth between the two girls, tail wagging as he waited patiently for Sooyoung to throw the tennis ball.

“Seulgi?”

“Hm?”

“You…you did well today, with the whole cornerstone thing. We probably would have drowned if you didn’t point that out to us.” Seulgi blinked. Was it her imagination or was Joohyun giving her a compliment? She grinned, filing the moment away in her memories.

“Yeri did most of the work, remembering that myth almost word for word,” Seulgi tried to deflect.

Joohyun turned to face her, a serious expression on her face. “Don’t sell yourself short, Seulgi. I admit when we caught you and Seungwan trying to follow us I was livid. I didn’t want to have the responsibility of taking care of two more people. But both of you have been invaluable to this quest so far.”

Seulgi hoped Joohyun wouldn’t see the faint blush creeping across her cheeks. “Why Bae Joohyun, I think this is the first time you’ve given me a compliment.”

Joohyun’s eyes widened and she quickly turned away from Seulgi. “Don’t get too excited, I’m just waiting for you to screw something up.”

There was no bite to the other girl’s words though and Seulgi just chuckled. “Challenge accepted.”

The two of them bantered back and forth for a while longer until Seulgi started yawning, her body telling her that it was clocking out for the night.

Joohyun noticed and called out to everyone. “All right, wind it down you guys. Who knows what fresh hell tomorrow’s gonna bring so I want everyone to get some rest while they can.”

Seungwan and Sooyoung looked a little put out that their playtime got cut short but nevertheless they grabbed the ball from Procyon and pulled out their bedrolls. Settling down next to Yeri’s sleeping form they soon joined the youngest in dreamland.

Seulgi stood up to join them, her muscles groaning in protest. Joohyun made no move to follow so she asked, “Are you gonna join us?”

“No, you guys can rest. I’ll keep watch.”

“You need to get some sleep too, Joohyun.”

Joohyun shook her head. “I’ll be fine. Someone has to make sure we don’t get ambushed in the middle of the night.”

Seulgi tried to coax her into thinking otherwise but Joohyun was resolute in her statement. So reluctantly Seulgi joined the other three, spreading her bedroll out beside Seungwan’s and lying down.

_You know you don’t have to be strong in front of us all the time, Joohyun…_

The next morning had everyone waking up to the sound of the Labyrinth rumbling. Startled, Seulgi leapt to attention as the walls shifted to reveal an ominous looking door.

She got the feeling that whatever challenge the Labyrinth was going to throw at them was going to be worse than the one they’d faced before.

“That’s our only exit,” Joohyun said as she scrabbled to her feet, her bags already neatly packed and ready to go. Did she even sleep at all last night? Seulgi wondered. “Are we ready to go?”

“See? Totally a boss fight,” Yeri whispered to Seulgi as she stuffed her bedroll back her bags. And Seulgi found herself agreeing with the blonde. Whatever was on the other side of that door could not be good.

XXX

The first thing they noticed was that the floor was almost completely covered in a layer of human bones. More Greek fire torches lined the walls, bathing the entire cavern in a sickly green light.

Joohyun knelt down and brushed her fingers over one of the broken bones littering the floor. “They died violently.”

“You can tell what happened to them?” Seulgi asked, impressed by Joohyun’s abilities.

“Perk of being the daughter of Hades,” Joohyun muttered, sounding like she was none too pleased with this ability of hers. “But I can’t quite tell how, there appears to be scorch marks on some of the bones but others have noticeable acid damage.” 

“Whatever killed them is still close though,” Yeri pointed to a set of bones that had been recently disturbed by something.

Sooyoung stepped forward, accidentally stepping on some poor soul’s tibia. The bone snapped, the sound echoing through the cavern.

A single copper-scaled snake head rose up from underneath a pile of bones, gaze immediately honing on the spot where Sooyoung had stepped a moment before. It yawned, revealing a pair of massive fangs that must have been at least a foot long.

“It’s just a giant snake,” Sooyoung blew out a breath, sheathing her spear and taking out her machine gun. “Some monster…”

All of a sudden the cavern started to rumble, making the girls stumble and lose their balance. Green caustic-looking mist began seeping onto the battlefield, originating from the pile of bones in the middle of the room. A pair of leathery dragon wings unfurled abruptly from the pile of bones, the rest of its body obscured by the toxic mist that continued to billow out.

There was a long, low growl as the beast stood up. Three pairs of glowing red eyes shone through the mist. Seulgi’s heart stopped in her chest. This was _definitely_ a boss monster.

“T-that’s a Chimera,” Seungwan stuttered, hastily nocking an arrow and training it on the monster. “Don’t get too close to that mist, it’ll probably kill you. And don’t get too close to the snake head, the venom will _definitely_ kill you.”

“So how do we kill it?” Joohyun snapped. “Give me the SparkNotes version.”

Everyone unsheathed their weapons as the Chimera roared a challenge.

“Uh, lemme get back to you on that one, Joohyun.”

Yeri whimpered. “We are so fucked.”

“Watch your language, Kim Yerim.”

“Sorry, Joohyun-unnie…”

XXX

The first obvious thing they found out was that the Chimera’s lion head could breathe fire. Sooyoung had to perform some tight acrobatics to dodge the majority of the attack but she wasn’t able to skirt the entire burst of flames and came out of it with a few minor burn marks and a smoking shoulder plate.

Joohyun immediately held Yeri back so she didn’t get hit and motioned for them to adjust their strategy. “Seulgi! Seungwan! We need some ranged damage.”

Seulgi nodded and pulled out her bow. _Come on Apollo blood, now’s your time to shine._ She nocked an arrow and aimed for the Chimera. It was a good thing their quarry was so big, hopefully she wouldn’t miss a target this big. She inhaled, leveled her aim and fired on the exhale. 

The shot was solid and her arrow pierced the Chimera’s hide with a thump. She cheered inwardly but her success didn’t last long.

Whatever caustic mist emanated from the Chimera’s hide quickly surrounded the arrow and ate through the wooden shaft. A second later the celestial bronze arrowhead popped out of the monster’s hide and fell to the floor of the cavern.

“Oh. Well that’s not good.” Seulgi whispered to herself. What kind of monster was immune to celestial bronze? Joohyun had told her the metal was basically instant death to monsters. “Seungwan? What do we do if like, hypothetically the Chimera is immune to celestial bronze?”

Seungwan shot her own arrow and observed as the arrow was once again disintegrated. “There _has_ to be a weak point, somewhere that’s not covered by that stupid acid armor.”

Joohyun took the lead once again. “Okay, you two keep peppering it with arrows to distract it, Sooyoung, Yeri and I will harass it in melee range. We need to find that thing’s weak point.”

The Chimera’s ram head bleated and Joohyun jerked back just as a ball of concentrated electricity slammed into the ground where she had been not a moment before. “It has electricity too?!”

“Oh, uh did I not mention that?” Seungwan looked apologetic. “Sorry!”

Joohyun gave Seungwan a death glare.

The battle began in earnest as together the five girls poked and prodded at the Chimera, testing its defenses while trying to dodge the errant flame blasts and balls of electricity. It wasn’t easy, especially for Joohyun, Sooyoung and Yeri since they were in close quarters with the Chimera.

Yeri had the easiest time with dodging, her Hermes blood allowing her to dart in an out of range with an almost preternatural speed, her twin daggers slashing at the Chimera’s legs.

Sooyoung had gone into a berserker rage, her eyes glowing almost as brightly as the monster’s. She had forgone her gun again and taken up her spear to keep a majority of the Chimera’s attention on her and away from her friends.

Joohyun’s axe made another appearance and she stepped in to help Sooyoung fend off attacks from the other heads. Every now and then she’d step out of range and attempt to trip up the monster with her earth-moving powers.

“Check its belly,” Seungwan called, firing arrow after arrow at the Chimera.

Yeri dashed underneath the Chimera, dodging the monster’s snake tail as it reached out to bite her, fangs outstretched and dripping with venom. She slashed upwards but found out its underside was completely covered with the same acidic armor. She pulled back her arm with a hiss of pain as her skin made brief contact with the Chimera.

“Nothing underneath except a lot of armor,” Yeri reported as she emerged from underneath the writhing Chimera. She yelped, dropping her dagger. A patch of skin on her arm was completely red and raw from her momentary contact with the monster’s hide.

“Ugh come on Seungwan, think…” Seulgi heard Seungwan mutter under her breath. “We had a class on this last year…beware the heads they snap and turn, beware the hide its skin will burn, to find its weakness one must check, a spot can be found at the base of the…” Seungwan lifted her head. “Its neck. Check the base of its neck!”

All five of them immediately zoned in on the base of the Chimera’s neck before it split off into the lion and ram heads. Sure enough, there was a small unguarded patch of leathery skin in-between two of the Chimera’s natural armor plates.

“How can we kill it though if its weak spot is so small?” Joohyun asked, fending off a strike from the snake head.

“Would poison work?” Yeri asked. She had picked up her dagger and retreated back to stand behind Seungwan and Seulgi. “All you would have to do is pierce its skin.”

“Unless you have any poison on hand I don’t think that plan’s gonna fly,” Seungwan said, firing another arrow at the Chimera to pull its attention off Sooyoung, who was busy recovering from a particularly vicious blow from the ram head. She turned to Yeri. “You don’t have poison on hand, do you?”

All the talk about poison had Seulgi thinking. She flashed back to her first meeting with Joohyun and Sooyoung. Joohyun had literally managed to suck the life force out of the Son of Lycaon, if she could somehow guide Joohyun’s power…

“Joohyun!” Seulgi called the older girl over, strategies running through her head. “Is it technically possible to transfer your power to an inanimate object like a sword or an arrow?”

Joohyun disengaged from the fight, trusting Sooyoung to be able to hold her ground. The daughter of Ares was slowing down though, she wouldn’t be able to keep up her berserker rage for much longer.

“You mean like enchanting a weapon or something?”

Seulgi nodded. “That power you used on the werewolf. The one that…” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence. Joohyun’s power had outright killed one of the werewolf twins. Seulgi shook her head. “Can you curse an arrow?”

Joohyun tilted her head. “I’ve never done it before, but I can give it a try.”

“Seungwan you’re the better shot, this rests on you,” Seulgi continued.

“Me?” Seungwan spluttered. “Your dad is literally the god of archery.”

“You know you’re better at archery than I am. Besides…you’re the one that has to do it. Don’t ask me why, I just know you have to be the one.” Seulgi still couldn’t explain it, but this was the exact same feeling she got when something told her to sneak away from camp. As if something or someone beyond her control was guiding her.

The Chimera roared as Sooyoung finally had to disengage from the fight. Her face was deathly pale, the angry red glow in her eyes fading. She’d bought them all the time she could.

“Sooyoung-unnie!” Yeri raced to the taller girl’s side and supported Sooyoung as the daughter of Ares collapsed, her energy utterly spent. The Chimera snarled and began stalking towards the two girls, noticing it had them boxed in a corner.

“It’s now or never, Seungwan,” Joohyun said, looking at Yeri and Sooyoung with concern. “Can you do this?”

Seungwan took a deep breath. She looked terrified, but there was a gleam of determination that shone in her eyes. “Yeah. I got this.”

She reached into her quiver and pulled out her last celestial bronze arrow. Standing tall, she nocked the arrow and aimed for the barely visible patch of vulnerable skin. Joohyun stood slightly behind Seungwan and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Joohyun closed her eyes and shadowy black tendrils of energy crawled from her hand down to Seungwan’s arm. The power coalesced in the head of the arrow, turning the bronze arrowhead completely black.

“You can do this,” Seungwan whispered to herself. “They’re counting on you.”

Just as the Chimera’s snake head darted for Yeri, Seungwan released her arrow.

Her shot rang true, the arrow burying itself into the base of the Chimera’s neck until nothing but the fletching showed. The monster screamed as Joohyun’s death magic began to take hold. The five of them watched in horror as the curse spread from the arrow’s point of impact through the Chimera’s veins. It convulsed, trying to fight off the potent magic.

To no avail however, as the curse continued to spread. Shadowy energy enveloped the monster’s entire body and it fell, body hitting the floor of the cavern with a thunderous sound. The impact shook a few stones loose in the ceiling, and as those fell to the ground a single shaft of moonlight broke through the stale atmosphere.

Sooyoung and Yeri stood up shakily. One of the Chimera’s heads had hit the ground only a couple of feet from them. Sooyoung shielded Yeri’s eyes from the gruesome sight, but Seulgi had a pretty good idea of what they were looking at, remembering the desiccated and almost mummified body of the Son of Lycaon.

“Is it over?” Yeri asked, peeking through Sooyoung’s fingers and almost gagging at the sight of the fallen Chimera. 

“Not quite,” Sooyoung said reverently, pointing at Seungwan, who had stepped into the moonlight to get a better look at her kill.

“What’s everyone looking at?” she asked, confusion evident in her tone.

“Seungwan,” Seulgi’s breath hitched as she looked at the symbol floating above her friend’s head.

“ _Di Immortales,”_ Joohyun whispered.

Seungwan noticed the emotional expressions on everyone’s faces and she looked up, her eyes welling up with tears. “Finally.”

A single silver crescent moon hung over Seungwan’s head.

And though the moment wasn’t as public as Seulgi’s claiming had been, the four remaining girls sank to one knee, hands placed respectfully over their hearts. Joohyun once again took the lead.

“All hail Lady Artemis. Goddess of the Moon, Leader of the Hunt, and Champion of the Wild.”

By now Seungwan was crying in earnest and she her entire body was shaking with the sheer emotion she was feeling. Seulgi immediately stood back up and wrapped her friend in a tight hug. Seungwan’s tears soaked the front of her shirt and the shorter girl sobbed in her arms.

Seulgi could only imagine what she was feeling. To be unclaimed for all those years, watching as many of the people around her got claimed by their godly parents, seeing them grow into the powers they had been given. And now she finally knew.

“And all hail Son Seungwan. Daughter of Artemis.” 

Note:

Artemis having children has always been a point of contention for me. In the Percy Jackson Universe, Artemis canonically has no demigod children, instead choosing to bestow her blessing on young women who join her group of Hunters. And though she’s considered a virgin goddess like Athena, Athena still has children, they’re simply born from her thoughts like she was. From the mythology I’ve read, Artemis has had demigod children before, they’re simply incredibly few in number. Fun fact, they’re also born from moonlight. So by all means let me know if you like or hate the decision to paint Wendy as a child of Artemis. But also, like, I couldn't resist having the No-Jam Duo as children of Artemis and Apollo respectively.

Seulgi’s Handy Dandy Mythology Notes #002

Chimera- A fearsome beast with multiple heads. Technically the term Chimera can be used to describe any monster who is comprised of multiple beasts. In this case the Chimera Seulgi and the others face has three heads: A lion head that can breathe fire, a ram head that can conjure electricity, and a snake head that can spew venom. This particular Chimera also has nigh impenetrable acid armor that protects it from all conventional celestial bronze weapons. Its weak spot is at the base of its neck.


	9. In Which Kang Seulgi Has A Brush With Death

“Ouch,” Yeri hissed, jerking her arm back and giving Joohyun a petulant glare.

“Sorry, Yeri,” Joohyun looked down at the angry acid burn on Yeri’s arm, genuinely confused. “I don’t know why the ambrosia I gave you didn’t work…”

“It’s Chimera acid,” Seungwan supplied. The Chimera’s dessicated body disintegrated not long after the battle ended. She had taken someone’s femur and was now poking the pile of yellow dust where the Chimera had once stood. Wisps of green smoke still emanated from the monster’s remains, and when Seungwan pulled the bone back it smoked ominously. She grimaced. “It’s so corrosive that normally-used treatments don’t have an effect on it.”

Everyone turned around as one to look at her, as if she’d suddenly gone and sprouted an extra head. Seungwan blinked. “…And how exactly did I know that?”

“Must be one of your newfound abilities,” Seulgi suggested, pointing up to the moonlight that was still shining into the cavern. “Artemis is a huntress; she’d have to have in-depth knowledge of her prey.”

“So I’m a walking monster dictionary now, great.” Seungwan tilted her head, considering this information. “Why couldn’t I get a useful power like Joohyun’s earth moving or Sooyoung’s berserker rage?”

“Looks like you’re stuck healing it normally,” Joohyun turned back to Yeri with an apologetic expression. “Anyone have any bandages?”

“Yeah, I got some in my backpack,” Seungwan slung her bag over her shoulder and rooted through its contents until she pulled out a roll of bandages with a triumphant grin. “Come here, I’ll fix you up.”

She grabbed Yeri gently by her uninjured wrist and pulled her close so she could take a proper look at the wound. Seulgi was glad they had someone with a lot of healing experience with them, especially since it seemed like she hadn’t inherited a propensity for healing magic from her father. Hell, Seulgi still didn’t quite know _what_ she had inherited from him ability-wise. She wasn’t as proficient in healing as Seungwan, nor was she as good a shot.

“Whoa,” Yeri’s comment caused everyone to immediately hone in on their youngest member.

As soon as Seungwan’s fingertips grazed the injured area of Yeri’s arm a solitary ray of moonlight danced over her fingers and seemed to sink into Yeri’s skin. The wound shimmered and began to knit itself closed until all that remained was a thin white scar.

“Lunar healing,” Joohyun stated, looking at Seungwan with respect. “A rare blessing, according to the Hunters of Artemis. As long as Seungwan has access to rays of moonlight she’ll be able to heal injuries.” 

“Maybe you should rethink your previous statement, Seungwan. Artemis kind of rocks,” Sooyoung said.

The five of them backtracked to the chamber they had slept in previously to take a rest and prepare themselves for another day of traversing the Labyrinth. They weren’t able to relax for long however, as their respite was interrupted by a booming voice.

“There you are, little demigods,” a deep masculine voice echoed throughout the chamber. The Greek Fire torches lining the walls winked out one by one until everyone was surrounded in darkness. “For a group that’s already almost died twice you’re quite resilient.”

The torches began to re-light themselves and as the chamber was cast in a green glow they noticed they were no longer alone.

XXX

“Thanatos,” Joohyun’s voice was cold, her eyes locked onto every single movement the god of Death made as he stepped closer to them. “What are you doing down here?”

Seulgi stared at the man standing before them. Honestly she thought the god of death would wear something a little more…death-like, not a perfectly-fitted white suit. Four inky black wings protruded from his back, and he fixed them with a gaze that filled them with dread, freezing them in their tracks. What struck her the most was the god’s skin, though it was black like his wings there appeared to be something shifting underneath, as though his entire physical form was made up of human souls.

“You are a remarkably difficult girl to find,” Thanatos frowned at Joohyun. “Though I suspect the Labyrinth has something to do with that.”

“Let me guess, my father sent you to try and stop this quest again,” Joohyun stepped closer to the god, putting herself in-between him and the rest of the girls.

Thanatos’ empty black eyes flashed red as though he resented Joohyun’s remark. “More like checking in. Lord Hades may have dominion over the Underworld but even one as great as him cannot exert dominance over another god.”

He looked them over, eyes raking from one person to the next. Seulgi figured his judgement would be none too kind based on the poorly-concealed scoff of contempt that came out of his mouth. “And it seems my intuition was correct.”

Seulgi found herself bristling at his remark. They’d just slain a Chimera, how dare he talk as though that deed didn’t mean anything? Beside her, Seungwan and Sooyoung glowered at Thanatos – but with ripped jeans, dented armor and monster dust in their hair Seulgi doubted any of them looked like heroes.

“You’re doing this quest with your eyes closed,” Thanatos hissed, twirling his scythe around impatiently. Joohyun clenched her fists and he smirked, leaning in close as if he was daring her to do something as stupid as strike a god. “Your father would be disappointed, Joohyun.”

“As if you could do better,” Joohyun said through gritted teeth. “Oh wait, you _can’t_ because the gods are prevented from interfering.”

Thanatos backed up with a frown. “The world will not wait for you to stumble your way to Persephone, daughter of Hades. War is coming. Olympus has its hands full with your father shirking his duties.”

“Joohyun-unnie is trying, okay?” Yeri said softly, turning to fix Thanatos with a defiant expression.

“She’s not trying hard enough!” he snarled, the wings on his back flapping in agitation. He slammed his scythe on the ground and the earth trembled underneath their feet.

“I don’t think you get just how serious the situation is. While the five of you walk merrily along in this godsforsaken hell maze the Underworld is in absolute chaos. I alone possess neither the power nor the authority to fix the problem. Hades is the warden in charge of souls after their passing, not I. The gods are preparing for _war_ if he does not resume his position.”

Seulgi’s mind flashed back to the nightmare she had before embarking on this quest with Seungwan. The blood, the cacophony of war…Was Thanatos saying that her vision would become reality if they didn’t succeed?

“You can’t expect five teenagers to solve all of this in a day or two,” Sooyoung said indignantly, her anger beginning to get the better of her. Her eyes began to flash erratically. “Even if you can’t directly interfere you should at least be able to let us know _where_ Persephone is being held.”

Thanatos fell silent. He glared at Sooyoung, his red gaze bright enough to rival hers. For a moment Seulgi wondered if the daughter of Ares had gone too far with her statement. Just as quickly as it appeared however, the angry glow faded and Thanatos regarded them with an empty cold gaze that reminded Seulgi briefly of Joohyun when they had first met. “Wherever she is, she is being shrouded from divine view. The magic being used is ancient, much like that of this Labryinth. Impenetrable. Dangerous. We are unable to track her.”

“And unlike you, demigods are dispensable,” Seulgi said slowly. “If we fail, this task is just going to fall on another unfortunate group until Persephone is either found or war breaks out among the gods.” Her stomach sank as she thought about the potential implications of this adventure.

“Exactly,” was his response, as if he expected them to be okay with blatantly being used as cannon fodder. Joohyun had said that the gods didn’t care about their children, but to hear it from a god himself made it that much harder to swallow.

Thanatos’ outline began to shimmer and fade away. “And also unlike me, the five of you hold the lives of countless people in your hands. I suggest you do not fail.”

Seulgi looked over at Joohyun. Shadowy tendrils danced along the shorter girl’s pale skin and she held her head high in defiance as Thanatos disappeared. And it might have been a trick of the light from the flickering torches but Seulgi thought she’d never looked so broken.

XXX

Their encounter with Thanatos made Joohyun even more determined.

With Procyon leading the way Joohyun drove them through the Labryinth’s endless tunnels with an almost manic gleam in her eyes. She wouldn’t even allow them to rest and it seemed that even the Labyrinth itself was having a hard time keeping up with her relentless pace. The walls around them kept changing in the blink of an eye, from hard-packed earth to stone to concrete.

“Can we—can we slow down for a bit please?” Seungwan bent over with a wheeze, using the wall as support as she tried to catch her breath. “I think I’m dying.”

“I don’t think we’re stopping anytime soon,” Seulgi answered for her, turning back to make sure the daughter of Artemis was okay. Even with their enhanced stamina Seulgi could feel every muscle in her body burning and she was definitely inclined to echo her friend’s statement. “We might have to wait until Joohyun herself collapses.”

Seungwan whined, pulling herself back up with a noticeable grunt of effort. Even Procyon was too tired to bark, he panted heavily next to Sooyoung as the daughter of Ares pushed past them, her face empty of any emotion.

“Joohyun-unnie, please. We need to stop.” Yeri said, her pleading cutting through the otherwise silent tunnel. Her tone made Seulgi’s heart hurt; she could hear the exhaustion in their youngest’s voice. Gods, Seulgi had almost forgotten about Yeri, she was so wrapped up in how awful _she_ was feeling. 

“No,” came the cold reply from up ahead.

There was a feral snarl and Sooyoung tossed her spear angrily to the floor, barreling up to Joohyun and twisting the other girl around by her arm. “What the hell is wrong with you, can’t you see we’re all nearly dead on our feet?”

“Unnies, please don’t fight,” Yeri said tiredly, trying to pull Sooyoung away from Joohyun.

“There is _nothing_ wrong with me,” Joohyun spat, wrenching herself free from the daughter of Ares’ grip. “You heard Thanatos, we’re not taking this seriously enough. There are countless lives at stake here.”

Seulgi sighed, “And what about our lives?” She understood where Joohyun was coming from, she really did. The girl never asked for this much responsibility and now she was feeling even more pressured to succeed in their quest.

“Seriously Joohyun, our maknae looks like she’s about to pass out,” Seungwan added, wrapping an arm around Yeri’s waist to support her.

They all turned to look at Joohyun. No one was willing to outright say _Someone needs to tell you to stop._ Joohyun regarded the four other girls with cold brown eyes.

“We keep going,” she said, elbowing past Sooyoung to pick up the girl’s spear and all but shoving it back into her hands. Ignoring the others she set off down the tunnel.

She didn’t look back. 

XXX

When the tunnel finally opened up into a large chamber the five of them immediately noticed something was off.

The Labryinth as a whole had been silent during their travels but as they stepped further into the chamber the very air seemed still, and something told Seulgi that this chamber should not be disturbed. The back of her neck prickled, like someone or something was watching them.

There were no torches lining the walls, the only light coming from Sooyoung’s spear and Procyon’s eyes. Beams of red light shone on the walls as Sooyoung cast the spear aloft. Slabs of marble were set into the rock at precise intervals, bearing worn inscriptions in Ancient Greek.

“These are catacombs,” Joohyun breathed almost reverently. She seemed completely unbothered by the unnatural chill in the air. Must be a daughter of Hades thing, Seulgi thought.

Seulgi shivered, looking out at the rows of graves in front of them. How long had these catacombs remained hidden? Layers of grime obscured many of the names that had been etched in the marble.

“At least this looks like a nice place to collapse and die,” Sooyoung muttered, lowering her spear and using it as support.

It wasn’t exactly what Seulgi had in mind when she asked for a break, but with no clearly visible exit it appeared like the Labyrinth itself was telling Joohyun to stop.

“This is how every horror movie starts,” Yeri grumbled.

Joohyun looked up with a scowl. She clearly wanted to continue but was being told in no uncertain terms that the end of the road was here.

“Well congratulations everyone. This is the break you wanted, right?”

“What I want is to return you to the Underworld where you belong,” Sooyoung retorted, finding a section of the chamber that didn’t appear to be taken up by graves and settling down with her back against the wall. Yeri curled up next to her, tear tracks staining her cheeks as she laid her head in Sooyoung’s lap. With more care than Seulgi thought possible from the daughter of Ares, Sooyoung began gently carding her fingers through their youngest’s hair.

Seulgi and Seungwan glanced warily at their leader before joining the other two, Seulgi taking the spot next to Yeri. Seungwan sat next to Sooyoung and even Procyon deigned to join them, gently licking Yeri’s exposed ankle and settling down with his head on Seungwan’s feet.

Joohyun stood on the other side of the chamber, not wanting to approach them. She ran her fingers carefully down one of the marble epitaphs. She muttered a phrase in Ancient Greek that Seulgi couldn’t catch and the ground underneath the graves rumbled gently. Seulgi blinked and the next thing she knew the entire chamber was covered in small purple flowers.

The hostility in the air seemed to settle down with Joohyun’s deed, as if whoever was watching them was pleased with the daughter of Hades’ tribute.

Seulgi smiled softly, noticing in the poor light that even Joohyun looked exhausted. The older girl brought out her bedroll but chose to set her belongings away from the group. _Gods, the pressure she must be under to succeed. I don’t think any of us would be able to take responsibility like she has_.

“So I’ve been thinking about earlier, with what Joohyun said,” Seungwan said, jolting Seulgi out of her thoughts. “The gods are prevented from interfering in the lives of demigods, right?”

Sooyoung was too tired to do anything but grunt an affirmative. “That’s mainly so they wouldn’t keep ‘accidentally’ killing off each other’s children and sparking conflict, but go on…”

Seungwan snapped her fingers triumphantly. “Ha! That’s why Joohyun was sent out on this quest, I can’t _believe_ I didn’t see it before.”

“Please elaborate for those of us who are too tired to think,” Yeri yawned, burrowing closer into Sooyoung’s side.

“Gods are prevented from interfering in demigod affairs, it was a divine order put forth by Zeus himself. I was wondering why the gods bothered to send us on a quest to find Persephone instead of mounting a rescue effort by themselves. They’re powerful enough, why would they need us?”

“Because they’re lazy?” Sooyoung replied, her eyes drooping.

Seulgi’s face paled. She understood what Seungwan was trying to say. “The gods can’t interfere because whoever kidnapped her is also a demigod.”

“Oh. Well that’s not good.”

XXX

Seulgi woke to the sound of whimpering.

Specifically, what sounded like Joohyun whimpering. Seulgi forced herself to straighten up, peering through the darkness. Joohyun was slumped against the wall on the other side of the chamber; apparently she hadn’t come to join their little huddle after everyone else had fallen asleep.

“Joohyun?”

She approached the other girl, debating whether or not she should wake the obviously sleeping girl. She figured Joohyun would react in one of two ways, and neither of those were preferable. Still, Joohyun seemed to be in distress and Seulgi figured they’d had enough of a bad day already.

“Joohyun, wake up.” Seulgi kept her voice low so as to not wake the rest of their team.

“What do you want, Kang?” Joohyun frowned at Seulgi, her eyes still closed.

“You looked like you were having a nightmare, I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Joohyun’s eyes snapped open and the glare she gave Seulgi made her gulp. “This is the first time we’ve gotten to rest in hours and _this_ is what you wake me up for?”

Seulgi backed away. “We’ve all had one hell of a day and I just wanted to see how you were—”

“Wait, shh.” Joohyun scrambled to her feet and pressed a finger against Seulgi’s lips. “Something’s not right.”

Seulgi rolled her eyes. Of course Joohyun would try to avoid talking about her feelings. “Joohyun, I—”

“ _Di immortales,_ ” Joohyun swore, drawing her swords and training her gaze on the graves around them.

The ground underneath their feet was rumbling, and there was an ominous creaking sound of bone on bone. 

“Everyone up!” Joohyun yelled, grabbing Seulgi by the arm and hastily stuffing her bedroll back into her bags. Sooyoung woke with a start, hauling Yeri to her feet and arming herself. Beside them Seungwan had drawn her bow, shaking the sleep from her eyes.

“What’s happening?” Yeri asked, looking at the shifting ground with unease.

“My father’s decided to screw things up again,” Joohyun answered as bones began to rise from the ground.

As if there was something drawing them in, the bones began to swirl around each other and within seconds the five of them were surrounded by skeletons.

Some kind of primal fear coursed through Seulgi’s veins as she gazed into the unseeing sockets of the skeletons before them.

“I thought you could control the dead?” Sooyoung yelled in a panic, stabbing out as one of the skeletons got too close for comfort. It shattered, bones falling to the floor only to rise up again fully formed not a moment later.

“These ones aren’t listening to me,” Joohyun swore. Even the walls around them were starting to spit out bones as more and more skeletons forming. “My father must have done something to them!”

Procyon barked at one of the skeletons, lunging forward with a growl and causing it to collapse.

“We have to get out of here,” Seungwan said, shoving her way past Joohyun. “These are Spartoi, skeletons said to be formed from ancient dragon teeth. We can’t kill them, they’ll just keep coming back.”

Luckily the Labyrinth seemed to show them a bit of mercy, as a tunnel suddenly appeared at the other end of the chamber. Joohyun pushed everyone towards their only escape and calling out, “Procyon, find us a way out!”

He barked and dashed off down the newly-formed tunnel. Seulgi followed blindly behind, hoping she wouldn’t trip and break her neck in the darkness. The tunnel seemed endless, and Seulgi could hear the rattling of bones behind her as the skeletons gave chase.

Then something echoed through the tunnel: the sound of someone pounding on wood. Following the sound Seulgi rounded a corner and saw Sooyoung, Yeri and Seungwan slamming themselves against what appeared to be a heavy wooden door. Joohyun came sprinting down the tunnel, “They’re coming!”

“Out of my way,” Sooyoung snarled, calling on her Ares blood to fuel another berserker rage. Seulgi remembered from her shift at the infirmary after war games that if a child of Ares pushed themselves too hard after raging they might not be able to calm down again. Sooyoung was risking her own health to save them all.

The roar that echoed through the tunnel made even the Spartoi pause. Seulgi turned to Sooyoung and saw the girl’s glowing eyes as pinpricks of hope as the daughter of Ares drew back and with one mighty blow she shattered the wooden door.

Sunlight assaulted their eyes and the smell of humid but fresh air filled Seulgi’s lungs as the five girls tumbled out of the tunnel. Seulgi heard the angry rattling of the Spartoi as they stopped at the door, seemingly unable to venture out into the sunlight. 

“Where the hell are we?” Sooyoung’s eyes flashed back to their normal brown color as her boots sank into a puddle of mud. Seulgi heard the Ares girl swear softly under her breath.

Behind them the entrance to the Labryinth sunk back into the bank and they were left unharmed but completely and utterly spent.

Seulgi looked up at the cloudless afternoon sky with a thoughtful expression on her face. “It hasn’t been that long since the Chimera fight, how is it already afternoon again?”

“I told you time moves differently in the Labryinth,” Joohyun replied tiredly. “Whatever ancient magic powers the place somehow messes with the flow of time and space. We need to find another entrance though, it seems like my father’s goal was to drive us out.”

“As for your question about where we are, I think I can make a pretty good guess,” Seungwan pointed at a small wooden sign that had been driven into the ground along a worn dirt path a few yards in front of them.

“Lostman’s Five? That’s not ominous at all…” Joohyun echoed the statement everyone else had in their heads.

“Hordes of mosquitoes, swampland and enough humidity to rehydrate a mummy? Welcome to the Everglades, ladies.” Seungwan made a dramatic gesture with her hands and immediately stepped in mud. “Oh, gross.” 


	10. In Which Kang Seulgi Does The Impossible

Seulgi shielded her eyes as she squinted up at the afternoon sun. The trees around them filtered out some of the scorching sunlight, but after being trapped underground even the sticky humidity of the Everglades felt like heaven to her.

Maybe it had something to do with her Apollo blood, she thought. Seungwan’s powers came from the moonlight, perhaps she had some sort of latent sun power. She thought she would be more tired than she was, especially after their latest near-death experience with the Spartoi back in the Labyrinth. The five of them had experienced a _lot_ in the last day or two yet it still seemed like they were struggling to find answers. They’d basically gotten kicked out of the Labyrinth by the skeletons and dumped here. But why?

“Penny for your thoughts?” Seungwan sidled up next to her.

“My thoughts are worth more than that,” Seulgi snorted, scooting over all the same to allow Seungwan to walk next to her as they followed the trail towards the Lostman’s Five campsite. She turned to Seungwan. “I was just thinking about our conversation with Thanatos. Why would a demigod do something like this? What would they have to gain from kidnapping a god?”

Seungwan shrugged. “The Keres said Hades ordered them to come after us. What could be more powerful than having the god of the Underworld in your pocket?”

Seulgi pursed her lips, “I don’t know. Something seems off about this whole thing, but I just can’t quite put my finger on it.”

“Your gut feelings are usually correct, that’s how we found Joohyun and the others, remember?”

Seulgi tilted her head in acknowledgement. She was about to respond to her friend when an angry voice sounded from behind them.

“Ugh, come on you stupid Labyrinth, give us another entrance!” Joohyun all but growled as she ran her fingers over the bank where the Labyrinth exit had been. “Damn it, we don’t have time for detours.”

Seulgi turned back to address the other girl. “You know maybe we’re _supposed_ to be here.”

Joohyun ignored her and kept squinting at the embankment as if she could intimidate the Labyrinth entrance into re-appearing. Seulgi thought it would have been endearing if she wasn’t still so hell-bent on getting back on track. She must _really_ hate losing.

“You and I both know that my father flushed us out of the Labyrinth, that means there’s something in there that he doesn’t want us to find.”

She did have a point. Actually, now that Seulgi thought about it she understood what Joohyun was insinuating. “So how do we get back in there?”

Joohyun sighed. “I have no idea.”

Sooyoung patted Joohyun on the back. “Look, we’re in the middle of the swamp and for once nothing seems to be chasing us. We didn’t exactly get a break last night, why don’t we rest for a while?”

“There should be a campsite up ahead,” Seungwan said, breaking off from their group and peering at the trailhead sign. “This trail over here is well-worn.”

Everyone turned to Joohyun, waiting for her to make the final decision. She pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers and gestured for Seungwan to lead the way. 

XXX

The five of them sloshed through the mud and joined up with the trail path that would eventually lead them to Lostman’s Five Bay and hopefully a decent place to rest. Both Yeri and Sooyoung were in awe of their surroundings, pointing out all the different trees and flowers and occasionally going off-trail with Procyon to get a closer look at whatever caught their eye. Seulgi liked watching the two of them play with each other, the typically blunt and abrasive daughter of Ares had quickly taken Yeri under her wing and was more than willing to entertain her while they walked. 

Joohyun had taken the rear position again, watching over everyone from afar and making sure they didn’t get into any trouble. She was a silent leader, strong and capable and almost completely unwilling to let anyone get past the walls she had put up around herself. Seulgi had seen a glimpse of the true Joohyun the night before they fought the Chimera and she found herself wanting to see more of the girl’s personality. 

That left Seulgi once again walking alongside Seungwan as they chatted. Seulgi had to admit it was nice talking to Seungwan. And after the other girl’s godly heritage came to light Seulgi didn’t miss the irony that was the two of them basically being cousins. The No-Jam Duo, daughters of Apollo and Artemis.

They were in the middle of a conversation about Seungwan’s favorite Korean singer when Procyon trotted up next to her, eyes bright and tail wagging. Something scaly was trapped in his jaws and he deposited it on Seungwan’s shoe with a wet plop. “Oh that’s disgusting, Procyon. Sooyoung! Get over here and put a leash back on your mutt before I feed him to the next monster we find.”

“Seungwan wait,” Seulgi reached out and grabbed the back of Seungwan’s shirt to prevent her from leaving, using her other hand to point at the “present” Procyon had brought the daughter of Artemis. She nudged the small mass of scales with her boot and turned it over.

It was some sort of monster, that much was obvious. Seulgi would have thought it was just a normal lizard at first glance but upon closer inspection she saw that the creature had not one, but _three_ heads. “What is this thing?”

Seungwan squatted down and gently poked at the creature’s unmoving body. “It’s dead, that’s for certain. And it has been for a while but I can’t tell what exactly it is with the decomposition. Maybe a baby basilisk or a baby drakon?”

Sooyoung joined them a second later, giving Procyon a loving scratch behind the ears. “That’s my good boy, what has he found?”

“Your ‘good boy’ dropped a rotting corpse on my shoe,” Seungwan grumbled petulantly. “It’s a baby monster, but I can’t tell exactly what it was.”

“Why do you sound worried then?” Sooyoung asked. “We’re in the Everglades, there’s bound to be wild monsters everywhere.”

“Because wherever baby monsters are you can be sure its mother isn’t far off.”

XXX

As soon as they reached the campsite something seemed off. A single wooden shack stood at the edge of the campsite clearing, a broken sign reading “Medical” hanging above the door by only a few haphazardly hammered nails.

“That’s weird, I know this place is in the middle of nowhere but you’d think there’d be at least _some_ sign of human activity,” Seungwan muttered as she approached the shack. The door creaked as it was pushed open, revealing a small room with a rusted bunk bed and a single desk. Papers covered the entirety of the desk and a first aid kit had been bolted to the wall but everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.

“Yeah, I don’t think anyone’s been here in ages,” Sooyoung agreed, making a beeline for the papers and beginning to shuffle through them.

“The trail we came here on was well worn though,” Seulgi mentioned. She joined Sooyoung in looking through the abandoned paperwork. Her brain had difficulties processing the letters on the paper and she sighed, remembering that since this wasn’t written in Ancient Greek she’d have a hard time reading it.

It took the two of them a few minutes to go through most of the papers but eventually they found something. Sooyoung cheered, holding up an official-looking memo from the Florida Game and Fish Department.

“Here we go. ‘Due to the recent sightings of bull sharks in Lostmans Five Bay this campsite is hereby closed to all visitors until October.’”

“Sharks? In the Everglades?” Yeri looked doubtful. “Are you sure you read it right, Sooyoung-unnie?”

Sooyoung stuck her tongue out at the younger girl. “I’m positive. Bull sharks are one of the only species of shark that are able to cross between freshwater and saltwater, and they’re pretty aggressive to boot. It makes sense that the Park Service would close this place down if there were sightings.”

Everyone turned to stare at her. “What? I’m not stupid, I learned about sharks in my third-grade science class.”

“Moving on,” Joohyun steered the conversation back to its original purpose. “I guess this means the whole campsite is empty. There won’t be anyone around to bother us while we rest.”

“That’s the first good news I’ve heard all day,” Seungwan said, yawning and stretching her arms. She turned to the first aid kit that had been bolted to the wall. “Hey Yeri, mind opening that for us? No one’s around and we could always use more medical supplies.”

Yeri’s answering smile at being asked to break into something made everyone break out into laughter.

XXX

A couple of hours later found Seulgi sitting on one of the boat docks overlooking Lostmans Five Bay as she watched the sun slowly begin to sink. They had managed to rest for a while without any interruptions, making Seulgi feel a lot more refreshed than she had earlier.

She took off her boots and dipped her toes in the water, enjoying the sensation even if it was murky and warm from the afternoon sun.

“Seulgi?” Joohyun’s voice came from her left and she turned to look at the older girl.

“Oh, Joohyun. How are you feeling, did you manage to get some rest?”

Joohyun smiled softly at the remark. “I did. Mind if I join you?”

Seulgi shook her head and scooted over so Joohyun could sit next to her. “When should we leave to start looking for another Labyrinth entrance?”

Joohyun shrugged. “Probably later tonight. I had some time to think and I realized that I was pushing everyone way too hard back in the Labyrinth. If everyone wasn’t so strong I might have gotten someone seriously hurt. I…wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if that happened.”

“You have a lot of responsibility right now Joohyun.” Seulgi splashed her feet in the water absentmindedly. “Thanatos did have a point, there’s a lot riding on this quest but that doesn’t mean you have to do this alone.”

Joohyun hummed in agreement. “I think I’m starting to see that now. I need to be a good leader and I can’t do that if I’m just mindlessly focused on what the end goal is for our quest. I made Yeri sad earlier when I wasn’t listening to her pain…” she paused for a second, eyebrows wrinkled concern. “I won’t do that again.”

Seulgi smiled at Joohyun. “That’s all we ask. At the risk of sounding cheesy, we’re all in this together Hyun.” Joohyun blinked in surprise and Seulgi realized what she had just said. “I’m sorry, do you not like that nickname? Seungwan has a habit of giving everyone nicknames and this one just seemed to fit and I—”

“—You’re rambling,” Joohyun said, not unkindly. They sat together in silence for a minute while Joohyun figured out how to respond. She hoped Seulgi was too distracted watching the scenery to notice that her cheeks had turned pink. “…I don’t _not_ like the name. Actually I think it’s cute.”

Seulgi on the other hand was watching the scenery in front of her in the hopes that Joohyun wouldn’t notice the stupid smile on her face. They basked in each other’s presence for a few precious minutes more. Seulgi picked up a pebble that had become lodged in the tread of her boot and tossed it into the bay. Being able to relax like this with a Joohyun who no longer had to worry about constantly meeting people’s expectations was a refreshing change of pace compared to their last couple of days.

Of course that meant the other shoe had to drop. And soon.

As Seulgi threw another pebble into the bay she noticed that the ripples stemming from the pebble’s point of impact were getting bigger. And were they…bubbling?

The muddy swamp water began to gurgle ominously, cutting their bonding moment short. Seulgi yanked her feet out of the water and reached for her backpack, pulling out her bow and keeping a watchful eye on the disturbance. Something _definitely_ felt off.

“Hyun?”

“Hmm?”

“Uh, this may be my imagination and my lack of quality beauty sleep, but is the water…acting strange?”

Joohyun looked at her, then looked at where Seulgi was staring. Sure enough, there appeared to be something lurking just under the water’s surface. And she was pretty sure it wasn’t a bull shark. Bull sharks didn’t have glowing yellow eyes.

“Oh, that’s not good at all…”

Seulgi muttered under her breath, recalling the body of the baby monster they had found earlier. “Well Seungwan _did_ mention that its mother was probably nearby…”

Joohyun looked horrified as she drew her swords and yelled out to warn the other three girls. “Hydra!”

XXX

Three monstrous heads breached the water’s surface, beady yellow eyes immediately honing in on Joohyun. Seulgi gulped audibly. If only the Hydra’s heads were rising up out of the water she shuddered to think about exactly how much of it was settled below the surface. She thought the Chimera was huge, but this monster was on another scale entirely. It hissed, the fins on the side of each of the Hydra’s faces flaring with anger.

One of the heads lunged for Joohyun on the dock and she quickly leaped out of range, narrowly avoiding getting chomped in half by the Hydra’s sharp teeth. And while the attack missed hitting Joohyun it did take a sizeable chunk out of the already fragile wooden dock the two of them were standing on. It creaked underneath Seulgi’s feet and she felt Joohyun’s hand around her arm a second before she was tugged back onto dry ground. The dock collapsed into the bay a moment later.

“What’s that about a Hy—” Seungwan came crashing through the brush, stopping in her tracks as she took in her surroundings, gaze slowly following the monster’s long serpentine neck as it pulled back to the center of the bay. “—dra. Fuck my life, that thing is huge.”

“Language!” Joohyun said almost on instinct as Sooyoung and Yeri joined them, weapons already drawn.

“I think I deserve to swear at least a little bit right now, Joohyun,” Seungwan argued, drawing her own bow and aiming for the Hydra. There was a shrill scream as her arrow hit its target, one of the heads now sporting a bright blue arrow in the middle of its forehead. The head swung around to search for whoever was responsible for hurting it.

“Save your breath and use your new powers. What kind of Hydra is this?” Joohyun parried another strike from the Hydra but she was barely able to divert its attack. Green acid dripped from the monster’s mouth and spattered onto a nearby log, eating through the wood with a hiss. “Why does _everything_ we face have to have some kind of acid damage?”

Seungwan watched the whole exchange and gulped. “That’s not just any Hydra, Joohyun. That’s _the_ Hydra.”

Joohyun stood up straight upon hearing the daughter of Artemis’ words. “You mean the _Lernaean Hydra??!”_

Seungwan nodded. “The one Hercules had to kill for one of his twelve labors.”

“We’re fucked,” Yeri said simply, sheathing her daggers and avoiding Joohyun’s gaze. “There’s no way we can kill this thing, it’s supposed to be immortal.”

“Hercules managed to kill it,” Sooyoung replied, drawing her machine gun and flicking the safety off. Seulgi wondered how she could be so nonchalant about facing a monster that was at least five times bigger than the Chimera.

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do,” Joohyun drew back to address everyone, her eyes never leaving the Hydra as it continued to stare at them. It was odd, it was almost as if the Hydra was daring them to make the first move. “We need to lure that thing into shallower water so we can face it head on. As long as it remains in the deeper part of the bay the only way we can hit it is with ranged weapons.”

“I volunteer Seulgi and Seungwan as the bait,” Sooyoung raised her hand.

“All _three_ of you can go since you carry ranged weapons.” Sooyoung looked like she was about to argue but thought better of it when she saw Joohyun’s stony expression.

“Fine. Stay close to me guys, this fight is gonna get rough real fast.”

As the three of them snuck around the edge of the bay Seulgi heard Joohyun call for Tofu and Kimchi, her two hellhounds bounding out of a portal with a loud howl. She smiled, wondering when Joohyun would summon her companions again.

“Here looks good,” Sooyoung said. They had moved about a hundred feet from where Joohyun and Yeri were harassing the Hydra heads, baiting them to attack. “We have good sightlines and cover to fall back to if things get hairy.”

“Don’t you mean scaly?” Seungwan couldn’t resist cracking a joke. Sooyoung glared daggers at her and she coughed, turning away from the daughter of Ares and focusing again on the business at hand. “Right. Sightlines. I agree, from what I’ve read about the Lernaean Hydra only one of its heads is actually smart. The other two…”

She gestured to the head on the right who still had the blue arrow sticking out of its forehead.

“Okay, is there anything else we need to know before I engage it?” Sooyoung asked.

The Hydra’s left head pulled back after missing yet another attack on Yeri and it roared, shooting a gout of flaming-hot fire in the direction of the daughter of Hermes. The trees behind her weren’t that fortunate and they went up in flames.

“Uh, it apparently can breathe fire too.”

“Great. Other than that, we should stick to the protocol for dealing with Hydras right Seungwan?”

Seungwan nodded. “Right. Don’t cut off any of its heads unless you can immediately cauterize the wound. Watch out for the fire and the acid and its teeth and with a little luck we might be able to pull this off.” 

“Alright ladies, let’s kick some Hydra ass.”

XXX

The fight was going well, _too_ well in Seulgi’s opinion.

They’d been battling the Hydra for going on an hour now and had managed to sever two of its three heads safely, stopping it from breathing fire and spitting acid. The only thing left to deal with was the supposedly immortal center head.

Of course that was easier said than done. Seungwan’s observation about it being smarter than the other heads turned out to be true and it seemed to be learning from its previous mistakes.

The Hydra actively avoided Sooyoung after she had taken her celestial bronze spear and, using a patch of trees that hadn’t escaped the Hydra’s wrath, heated up her weapon enough to be able to cauterize the stumps of the Hydra’s other two heads after Joohyun and Yeri severed them.

And though it had been lured into the shallows earlier it was quickly realizing what a disadvantage it was at, retreating back to the safety of deeper water.

Seulgi and Seungwan peppered the monster with arrows from their position on the other end of the bay, piercing its thick reptilian skin and causing it to hiss in pain.

Meanwhile, Yeri, Joohyun and her hellhounds were harassing it from the remaining side. With the help of Tofu and Kimchi, Yeri dug into the mud around them and began piling up rocks for Joohyun to throw in the Hydra’s direction with her geokinesis.

With countless wounds sending rivulets of thick black blood pouring down the Hydra’s neck, the monster roared furiously and it began desperately searching for a target it could feasibly hit.

_It swung its head first to the left, seeing no vulnerable targets. The death-daughter was calmly chucking rock after rock in the Hydra’s direction, and the quick-daughter was being protected by the two hellhounds._

_It looked to the right. The war-daughter was dangerous, she had already severed two of its heads and it was not looking to provoke another attack. That left the sun daughter and moon daughter. And of the two it found a target._

Seulgi, whose aim with the bow meant she was less adept at shooting than Seungwan, was about a dozen feet closer to the Hydra than the other two girls.

The Hydra rumbled, diverting its attention from Joohyun and Yeri and aiming for Seulgi, who was busy trying to nock another arrow and wasn’t able to see the Hydra switching targets. 

“Seulgi, watch out!”

Seulgi turned her head in time to see the Hydra’s one remaining head dart towards her, jaws open wide. She was seized with fear and froze in her tracks as the Hydra got closer and closer. Seulgi closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable agony that would come with the Hydra’s caustic fangs tearing into her flesh.

But it never came.

She cracked open an eyelid and saw the most incredible sight before her. The Hydra roared in anger above her, its warm rancid breath hitting Seulgi and making her eyes water. In front of her stood Joohyun. Somehow the daughter of Hades managed to shadow-travel from the other side of the bay and had placed herself in between Seulgi and the Hydra. She had held the Hydra’s head at arm’s length, her two-handed axe lodged in its mouth and preventing it from snapping its jaws shut around the both of them.

“Joohyun!” Seulgi called out.

“Get out of here, Seulgi!” Joohyun was obviously beginning to struggle against the Hydra’s superior strength. It didn’t help that she had used her power to shadow-travel, leaving her at an even greater disadvantage.

“But I—”

“NOW!” Joohyun’s voice was steady, and she turned back to give Seulgi a pleading glance. _Don’t you dare even_ think _about doing what I think you’re doing_ , Seulgi thought. The last thing she wanted to do was leave Joohyun at the mercy of the Hydra. Her gut was telling her that she needed to stay with the other girl.

But Joohyun had ordered her to retreat. 

Although every step backwards felt like agony she fell back to the water’s edge. She trusted Joohyun.

As soon as Seulgi was out of harm’s way Joohyun called on the last grasps of her power, her body flaring with a dark energy. She pushed back against the Hydra and to everyone’s amazement she actually managed to force it back a few feet. The Hydra held strong however, and even with Joohyun’s axe in its mouth it hissed.

Seulgi gasped in horror as it raised its head up, lifting Joohyun’s much smaller body into the air. Like a dog shaking a toy it flung its head to one side, dislodging both girl and weapon from its mouth. Joohyun’s axe went spinning in one direction, falling into the shallow water next to Seulgi while Joohyun herself was tossed like a ragdoll in the other.

The world around Seulgi seemed to go in slow motion and she watched helplessly as Joohyun’s body slammed against a tree with a sickening thud. She hit the ground and lay motionless, eyes wide and unseeing.

“JOOHYUN!”

XXX

The world around Seulgi jolted back into real time. The Hydra had an almost smug look on its reptilian face as it retreated and Seulgi snapped.

Something hot began welling up in Seulgi’s chest and she realized it was pure unadulterated rage. She glanced at where Joohyun’s body had landed and her heart constricted when the other girl remained still. Joohyun couldn’t be dead, could she?

She let out a guttural cry full of anger and sadness and let the emotion overwhelm her. Something felt different though. The heat in her body kept building, and somehow Seulgi knew if she didn’t let go the power would burn her from the inside out.

So she let go.

Seulgi’s eyes flashed a bright golden color and her entire body began to glow. Heat radiated off of her in waves, white-hot sparks dancing on her skin and falling to the muddy ground with a hiss. She couldn’t lie, the immediate rush of power that slammed into her made her feel as though she could move the Earth itself.

Her gaze fell on where Joohyun’s axe had fallen and she reached into the muddy water to retrieve it. Joohyun’s favored weapon seemed to react to her presence, the Stygian iron of the axe head giving off an almost menacing thrum.

Heedless of the dangerously cold aura that surrounded the weapon and prevented anyone but Joohyun from wielding it, Seulgi picked it up and hefted it over her shoulder.

Behind her, Sooyoung and Yeri were rushing over to Joohyun. Seungwan called out for Seulgi but she couldn’t hear anything. All she could see was the Hydra in front of her.

Seulgi refused to believe that Joohyun was dead. She was hurt badly, that’s all. Nothing a little ambrosia and nectar couldn’t fix. With that thought planted firmly in her mind she only had one goal: make the Hydra pay for hurting Joohyun.

Seulgi growled, taking one step and then another. All of a sudden she shot forward at a blindingly fast pace, moving so quickly that she dashed across the water’s surface without sinking. The Hydra no longer looked smug as Seulgi dashed straight for it, Joohyun’s axe in her hands. _This is for Joohyun._

The Hydra screeched as Seulgi barreled into it head-on. The resulting explosion was like a bomb going off, and the remaining three girls had to shield their eyes from the sheer brightness of the attack.

When the light faded, Seulgi was standing in the shallows of the bay, eyes still burning bright and drenched from head to toe in swamp water. Joohyun’s axe was in one hand and in the other was one of the Hydra’s three-foot long fangs. The Hydra’s body floated in the middle of the bay, completely blackened and very dead. Seulgi’s face was devoid of any emotion as she began walking slowly back to dry land. 

Seungwan, Sooyoung and Yeri meanwhile, having witnessed Seulgi’s incredible feat of power, quickly turned their attention back to their fallen leader. Tofu and Kimchi laid next to Joohyun’s body, and as Seungwan rushed forward they growled at her.

“Out of my way you two,” Seungwan snapped back, pushing past them. She knew the two hellhounds were just trying to protect their master but if there was _any_ chance that Joohyun could be saved she needed to get to her. As if they knew that she was only trying to help, Tofu and Kimchi stood up and allowed the daughter of Artemis to approach.

“Come on Joohyun, you can’t do this to us,” Seungwan’s pleas were labored as she rushed over to where Joohyun had fallen, sinking to her knees next to Joohyun’s unmoving body, her hands automatically moving to perform chest compressions as she tried to resuscitate the daughter of Hades. “We need you, don’t leave us.”

She stared up at the slowly sinking sun as if she was trying to force it set faster. Her lunar healing only worked if the moon was out. They should have waited until after dark to engage the Hydra, maybe then she would have been able to do something.

“Seungwan unnie?” Yeri’s voice cracked and she gently removed Seungwan’s hand from Joohyun’s chest. “She’s gone.”

Seungwan sniffed audibly, wiping her face with a muddy jacket sleeve. “Oh gods. The prophecy.”

Yeri’s expression was solemn and she recited the line, “But to acid and fire one will fall.”

“Fuck,” Tears were running down Seungwan’s face in full force. “Hermes was right.”

Yeri knew that now wasn’t the appropriate time to bring up her father but she made a note to ask Seungwan about it later. _If there was a later._

Seungwan reached down and closed Joohyun’s eyes, muttering a prayer in Ancient Greek under her breath.

Sooyoung noticed Seulgi walking towards them and she reached for Seulgi’s shoulder, yelping in surprise when her fingers brushed against the other girl’s skin. She was literally radiating heat and something primal told Sooyoung to get the hell out of Seulgi’s way.

What happened next was nothing short of a miracle.

Seulgi approached Joohyun robotically, her eyes still a bright golden color. Tofu and Kimchi skittered out of her way, tails tucked between their legs. Whatever power was running through Seulgi right now was potent enough to scare off even Joohyun’s unwavering companions.

Seungwan stood up and addressed Seulgi, her voice shuddering as she spoke. “Seul, she’s….I tried.”

Seulgi didn’t respond, instead sinking to her knees, dropping her weapons and picking up Joohyun’s body, cradling it close to her chest. In this state Joohyun looked so fragile. So vulnerable. Seulgi knew Joohyun was gone, she could feel that the girl she was holding no longer had life flowing through her.

She hated it. She hated that Joohyun had just started to open up to her. Less than an hour ago they were sharing a shy conversation with each other. Seulgi had felt the beginning of something new in her relationship with the older girl. And now it had all come crashing down around her.

Seulgi hugged Joohyun close and let out a sob.

A voice sounded in her head, so softly at first that Seulgi had to struggle to hear it. It kept repeating a single phrase over and over again. “ _Solace will come with the break of dawn.”_

Seulgi felt another surge of power rising in her heart, and her skin began to glow again, a single tendril of light beginning to inch its way towards the body of the Lernaean Hydra. The light surrounded the Hydra’s body intensified until it got so bright that Seungwan Sooyoung and Yeri had to avert their gazes. Even Joohyun’s hellhounds shifted their heads away from the light.

The tendril of light that connected Seulgi and Joohyun to the Hydra began to pulse and Seulgi felt a tug in her gut that guided her as to what to do next. _Remember her._

So Seulgi did.

She remembered Joohyun’s scowling face when the older girl poked her head into the dance studio back in Seoul. How even with the barbed words coming out of Joohyun’s mouth Seulgi thought she still looked beautiful. She remembered Joohyun storming into the auditorium with Sooyoung, looking like she was about to murder Minjun and Renjun for attacking Seulgi.

She remembered the first time she thought she saw Joohyun smile at her, the day of their capture the flag game. That was the first glimpse Seulgi got into who Joohyun really was. When they worked together to defeat the Keres.

The moments began flashing through Seulgi’s head a faster pace. Finding the Labyrinth, facing the Chimera and watching Joohyun conjure up flowers for the graves in the catacombs. Such a simple selfless act. Seulgi couldn’t pin down the moment she fell in love with Bae Joohyun.

As soon as she realized what she had just admitted to herself she smiled. She was in love with Bae Joohyun. Short-tempered, grumpy, protective, caring, irritating and downright gorgeous Bae Joohyun.

She wouldn’t let Hades reclaim his daughter. Not when their journey had only just begun.

Pulling the daughter of Hades even closer she let all her feelings transfer from her body to Joohyun’s. There was a scary moment when she felt nothing but emptiness from the other girl but that was quickly washed away when she heard Joohyun’s voice inside her mind.

_Seulgi?_

_Hang on, Hyun. There’s no way I’m letting you go._

The light washed over both of them and Seulgi could sense the moment Joohyun’s soul returned to her. She let out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding and as the golden glow faded from her eyes she gazed down at Joohyun.

Joohyun was still unconscious but her skin was warm to the touch and when Seulgi leaned over to press an ear to the older girl’s chest there was a quiet but strong heartbeat. 

“ _Di Immortales._ That’s impossible…” Seungwan whispered. Joohyun had died, she was certain of that. Had Seulgi really brought her back to life? She inched forward, almost as if she was afraid that interfering with the intimate moment happening before her eyes would ruin everything and Joohyun would go back to being dead. “Seul?”

Seulgi looked up at her friend, tear tracks staining her cheeks. “I couldn’t let her leave.”

Seungwan’s smile was watery and she kneeled down to gently run her fingers over Joohyun’s cheek, relishing in the warmth she felt, “Of course you couldn’t, babe. You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

Seulgi sniffled. “Was it that obvious?”

Yeri approached them next. “Kind of. You’re not very subtle, unnie.”

Sooyoung was the last to join them, with all three dogs at her heels. She didn’t say anything, instead simply dropping her weapons and reaching out to reassure herself that Joohyun was in fact alive. 

A sloshing sound behind them caused the four girls to whirl around to see what the cause of all the commotion was.

The Hydra’s body was beginning to disintegrate and as it did so, a giant whirlpool began forming in the middle of the bay.

“What the Hades?” Seungwan got up and although the last thing she wanted to do was leave her girls she had to make sure some other monster wasn’t about to climb up out of the whirlpool and attack them. 

Seungwan drew her celestial bronze scissors and waited with bated breath to see what would happen. But as the minutes went by and nothing else came to the surface she relaxed. There was something at the back of her mind though, something about the Lernaean Hydra that she was forgetting.

She shook her head, tearing her gaze from the whirlpool to look at Seulgi and Joohyun again. “I dunno guys, things seem safe enough.”

“I don’t like it, the last thing we need is for Hades himself to come out of that whirlpool and kill us all,” Yeri eyed the rushing water fearfully.

_Hades. Wait…_

“Oh my gods wait, that’s a portal to the Underworld,” Seungwan blurted out, suddenly connecting the dots.

“It’s a WHAT?” Yeri scooted away from the water’s edge and hid behind Sooyoung.

“The Lernaean Hydra guards a portal to the Underworld,” Seungwan remembered Tzuyu telling her about it last year when the younger girl was _really_ into reading about monsters. 

“You know what? Screw this. Screw Thanatos, screw Hades…” Sooyoung interrupted her, loud voice rough with emotion. She pointed at the whirlpool in the center of the muddy lake. Using her spear as a support she got to her feet shakily. “Hades has done nothing but completely fuck up our lives since we started on this stupid quest. I say its time we take the fight to him.”

Seulgi was still holding protectively onto Joohyun’s unconscious body, taking comfort in the quiet but steady pulse she could feel. She still didn’t know exactly _how_ she’d done what she did, but Joohyun was alive. That’s all that mattered.

“You want us to go to the Underworld?” Yeri stuttered, staring at the portal with trepidation. “Wouldn’t that just make us even more of a target?” 

“No, Sooyoung’s right. He wouldn’t expect us to do something as brazen as this,” Seulgi wiped some of the monster blood off her face. “The fact is, we need answers. We know Persephone is held underground somewhere and we know that a demigod is who took her. But that’s it. We can’t keep floundering around waiting for the next monster to show up and try and kill us.”

She sniffled, “We almost—no, we _did_ lose Joohyun to the Hydra. And I will not let anyone else die on this quest.”

Seulgi regarded the rest of the girls, her gaze daring them to challenge her. They looked away though, deferring to her judgement. Belatedly she realized she probably looked a little frightening, with Hydra blood staining her armor and her skin still occasionally emitting golden sparks.

“Then it’s settled,” Seungwan said. “We wait for Joohyun to wake up and then we take the fight to Hades himself.” 


	11. In Which Park Sooyoung Meets The World's Biggest Boy

Joohyun woke up with her fingers entwined with Seulgi’s. She inhaled hesitantly as her memory slowly came back to her. Launching herself in-between Seulgi and the Hydra, holding the head at bay with her axe. The last thing she remembered was being lifted up into the air and tossed against a tree.

Opening her eyes, she turned her head to look at the daughter of Apollo, who had fallen asleep sitting vigil beside her bed. The other girl’s clothing was scorched and caked with dried Hydra blood. Her hand felt warm in Seulgi’s grip and something about it just seemed _right._ She gently squeezed Seulgi’s hand and the other girl shot to her feet, eyes darting left and right almost as if she was making sure they weren’t being attacked.

Her deer-in-the-headlights expression quickly faded when she laid eyes on Joohyun and all of a sudden the daughter of Hades felt her entire body being crushed in an enthusiastic bear-hug. “Seulgi, please. I can’t breathe.”

Seulgi let her go, her eyes crinkling up into those cute half-moons that always made Joohyun’s heart flutter a little bit. “Joohyun thank the gods, I didn’t know when you were going to wake up!”

“What exactly happened? The last thing I remember was the fight in the swamp and—” Joohyun blinked, remembering a heavy weight of crushing darkness. “—did something happen to me?”

She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that she already knew what Seulgi was about to say. The other girl hesitated for a moment, almost as if she was unsure whether to tell Joohyun about what transpired.

“You died.”

It made sense. Logically it made sense. It explained the strange sensations she felt upon making contact with the tree, how her entire world suddenly became enveloped in an inky void. But if she had died then how was she here with Seulgi? Unless…

“ _Di immortales_ did you die too? And the others, Seungwan, Sooyoung and Yeri, what happened to them? Are we all in the Underworld or—” Joohyun began to panic, sitting up in her bed and ignoring the twinge of pain that radiated down her back. She could only hope that her rash actions hadn’t gotten the rest of the girls killed.

“Whoa there, calm down.” Seulgi crawled next to Joohyun and took her hands, placing one on Joohyun’s chest and the other on her own. The blind panic Joohyun was experiencing calmed a little at the action as Joohyun felt their hearts beating almost in sync. Heartbeats. They were alive. She was alive. “There you go Hyun, you’re okay. We’re all okay.”

Joohyun sank back onto the bed, now thoroughly exhausted even though she had only just woken up. “The others?”

“Outside keeping watch,” Seulgi replied calmly. “We brought you back to the medical cabin at the campsite to wait for you to wake up.”

“Good. I’m glad they’re safe,” Joohyun mumbled, slowly closing her eyes again. She hummed under her breath as her body fought the urge to go back to sleep. It was good that the other three girls were safe, Joohyun didn’t know if she’d be able to live with herself if the Hydra had killed anyone else.

Seulgi gave her a small smile as she witnessed the older girl struggling to stay awake. She wasn’t exactly familiar with previously dead people coming back to life but she imagined that it must have been an exhausting affair. And even though she wanted Joohyun to stay awake the other girl looked like she could benefit from some more sleep. “Shh, you can rest for a bit longer if you want, Joohyun.”

“I can?” Joohyun’s response was slurred. “Okay, just five more minutes then.” Her head drooped and Seulgi chuckled under her breath. The daughter of Apollo made sure Joohyun was properly tucked in before tiptoeing out of the cabin as quietly as she could.

As Seulgi left to inform the others that Joohyun had woken, she passed by the girl’s faithful hellhounds who stood sentinel on both sides of the door. Without thinking she reached forward and scratched behind Tofu’s left ear, the massive dog huffing in contentment. “Watch over her please? The others need to know she woke up.”

Tofu blinked impassively, which Seulgi took as an affirmative. Giving Tofu one last pet, she headed for the other unused cabin on the far side of the campsite to tell Seungwan and the others about Joohyun. As she walked, a thought suddenly struck her and she remembered the first time she’d seen Joohyun’s hellhounds.

_“They’re called hellhounds and I wouldn’t get too close to them If I were you, they’re only friendly to Joohyun. Anyone else who goes near them risks getting bitten.”_

Yuri had steadfastly warned her not to touch Joohyun’s companions and here she was running her fingers through Tofu’s admittedly very soft black fur. _Well, that’s a new development._

XXX 

The second time Joohyun woke up she was greeted with a long, pink tongue as it licked a stripe from her chin to her forehead. She let out a rather undignified yelp and nearly fell off the bed. The commotion attracted the other girls, who barged into the cabin with weapons aloft only to see Joohyun glaring petulantly at Procyon, whose tail thumped happily against her legs.

“Sooyoung,” Joohyun said tiredly, “Please get your dog.”

In any other situation Sooyoung would have argued that since Joohyun was the one who woke him up, Procyon was technically _hers_ , but she bit back the remark and gently grabbed the Labrador by his harness and led him outside. When did she become the team’s unofficial animal handler?

“Did you at least get a little bit more rest?” Seulgi asked, sheathing her weapons and sitting down in the spot Procyon had vacated. As she got closer to Joohyun the daughter of Hades noticed a strange golden tether begin to form between the two of them. It was faint, so faint in fact that if Joohyun averted her gaze for even a split second it disappeared. She thought it strange but decided not to think too much about it.

“Yeah, thanks for letting sleep for while longer before we continued. I hope I didn’t hold us up for too long.”

Seungwan shook her head vehemently. “Take all the time you need Joohyun. Now that the Hydra’s dead this is actually the first solid bit of quality rest we’ve gotten since we left camp.”

That reminded Joohyun that she really needed to talk to Seulgi more about the end of the last fight. Seulgi had told her she died but remained very tight-lipped about how Joohyun was brought back. She had a strange feeling in her gut that the golden tether had something to do with it.

Sooyoung returned and pulled out one of the nearby chairs. “We can’t stay here forever. It’s only a matter of time before the next monster gets sent after us.”

Yeri nodded. “That’s why Sooyoung-unnie suggested we put the ball back in Hades’ field. We go to the Underworld and confront him ourselves.”

Joohyun’s eyes widened in surprise. It was a bold plan, to be sure. She didn’t quite know how she felt about potentially reuniting with her father, but they needed answers. And Hades definitely wouldn’t anticipate this move. “Okay.”

“Okay? No argument, no ‘Sooyoung that’s an awful plan what are you thinking?’” Seungwan tilted her head in confusion. “That’s it? We’re going to the Underworld?”

“What were you expecting me to say?” Joohyun replied, genuinely curious. “It’s a solid plan and it’s definitely something my father wouldn’t see coming.”

“Then it’s settled,” Seulgi cut in. “We leave as soon as Joohyun feels ready.”

Her tone left no room for arguing.

XXX

A few hours later saw the five girls standing once again at the water’s edge, looking out into the middle of Lostmans Five Bay at the huge whirlpool that had formed on the Hydra’s death.

“We’re really doing it,” Yeri said. “We’re really going to the Underworld.”

“Yep,” Seungwan’s uncharacteristically short reply gave away how hesitant she was about the whole situation.

“What exactly are we hoping to accomplish down there?” Yeri did bring up a point. Their current plan wasn’t the most well-thought out. But “getting answers” was a better plan than sitting around in the Everglades like sitting ducks waiting to get attacked again.

“Uh, don’t die?” Even Sooyoung looked a little apprehensive. “So, who’s going first?”

Everyone except Joohyun took a few steps backward. She looked behind her and sighed. _Guess I’m the chosen one._

Inhaling deeply and already regretting her decision to lead her girls into her father’s domain, Joohyun swam out to the middle of the bay and approached the portal, all but dragging everyone else behind her. For all their bravado about going to fight Hades in his own territory Joohyun remembered that they were still just teenagers.

The water rushed around her, drawing her in closer to the middle of the whirlpool. Joohyun had no idea where this portal would take them but she wasn’t about to tell the others that. They needed confident leader Joohyun.

With one last look back she put on a brave smile and let herself get sucked in.

The portal leading to the Underworld wasn’t so much a portal as it was a water slide from hell. Water cascaded all around Joohyun as she slid farther and farther below the surface. As she descended, the air around her took on a familiar stale taste. It didn’t smell of death but rather of a lack of life. Memories of a young Joohyun running around the Underworld flashed through her head.

The journey came to an abrupt end and Joohyun found herself being unceremoniously spat out of the portal, landing on her back with a thump. She groaned, staring up at an expanse of inky darkness and remembering why she left. Except for Elysium, the vaunted place where good souls went after death, the entire Underworld had no natural light. The only sources of light came from the giant black citadel in the distance that marked the location of Hades’ throne room and from the River Styx.

Which was behind them. Joohyun scrambled to her feet as the other four girls and Procyon came flying out of the portal, landing much like she did. That was odd. Joohyun thought all portals to the Underworld ended in front of the River Styx, and she wracked her brains to see if she could remember. A moment later she sighed, unable to recall any instances of an Underworld portal ending _past_ the river.

At least they wouldn’t have to deal with Charon. Joohyun didn’t _hate_ her father’s ferryman, but he was always so sarcastic and just an overall pain to deal with. As the one in charge of ferrying souls across the river and into Hades’ domain proper he was a stickler for rules and he seemed to enjoy tormenting any soul that was too poor to pay him.

And now that Joohyun thought about it he would probably have alerted her father to their presence immediately. Deciding not to look this gift horse in the mouth, she turned around to check on everyone. “Is everyone okay?”

Seungwan coughed, squeezing water out of her shirt and collapsing on her back with an exaggerated huff. “I’m alive, if that’s what you mean. I feel like I shouldn’t be though, it almost feels _wrong_ to be here if I’m not dead.”

Seulgi got to her feet and looked around at their surroundings, “This is the Underworld? I guess I thought it would be a bit more…spooky looking.”

“Someone watched Hercules a few too many times as a kid,” Sooyoung pulled out her spear to let its red light wash over them. “But you do have a point. This whole place is desolate. Where’s Charon and the River Styx?”

“Behind us,” Joohyun said, helping Yeri to her feet and brushing some dirt off the younger girl’s back. “Somehow the portal launched us past the river. That means we’ve skipped getting a lecture on how humans are polluting the river with their lost hopes and dreams.”

Seulgi chuckled. “I get the feeling you’re overly familiar with those lectures.”

“I spent about three years down here when I was young,” Joohyun revealed absentmindedly. “My father and Persephone would take me around the Underworld and teach me things.”

The five of them walked towards the citadel standing in the distance. Joohyun wondered why they hadn’t been stopped yet. It was concerning, usually her father had a tight grip on his domain and always knew what was happening. Not a single thing happened in the Underworld that he didn’t know about. Was Persephone’s kidnapping responsible for this sudden lack of order?

Even though there was a distinct lack of guards patrolling the riverbanks and pathways leading up to the throne room, Joohyun had a feeling that they wouldn’t stay undetected for long.

A statement that proved true when all of a sudden a low threatening growl rumbled through the air. Joohyun froze in her tracks, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up straight. She knew that growl. And she didn’t like that it was being directed at them.

They may have gotten to bypass Charon and his boring lectures about pollution levels in the River Styx, but they weren’t lucky enough to get past _him._

Sooyoung clapped a hand over Seungwan’s mouth before she could scream and gestured for everyone else to be quiet. “Nobody make any sudden movements.”

Materializing before them was the world’s biggest three-headed Rottweiler.

XXX

“C-Cerberus,” Yeri stuttered, hiding behind Joohyun.

Even Joohyun’s rhino-sized hellhounds looked like Chihuahuas in comparison to the guardian of the Underworld. Cerberus was a massive black and brown furred beast. If Joohyun had to estimate, he was probably twice the size of a mammoth, with three big blocky heads and piercing red eyes. A black spiked collar hung from each of Cerberus’ three necks.

As one of Echidna’s sons, Cerberus was the only monster Joohyun could remember that worked directly for the gods. He was steadfastly loyal to Hades and Persephone and guarded the gates to the Underworld, making sure no errant souls tried to cut in line or escape their imminent judgement.

Joohyun recalled her father bringing her to meet Cerberus one day when she was young. To be perfectly honest he scared the living daylights out of her. Now that she thought about it, it probably explained why she wasn’t much of a dog person.

Tofu and Kimchi were another story entirely. Hades had seen how frightened she was of Cerberus and as a means of apology he brought home two tiny puppies one evening. Back then Tofu and Kimchi were the size of normal puppies so she got used to them. Of course her father forgot to mention that hellhounds never stopped growing…

Joohyun was jolted out of her memories again when Yeri tugged on the back of her shirt. “Unnie!”

She shook her head, “Sorry, what?”

“I said ‘is he going to kill us?’” the youngest replied, looking up at Cerberus with a mixture of awe and fear.

“No. His job is to stop wayward souls that try to sneak past the gates. We’re not dead though so don’t quote me on that.”

“So how are we supposed to get past him?” Seungwan whispered, gesturing at the pair of wrought-iron gates that stood just beyond Cerberus.

Sooyoung snorted and pushed past the others, confidently approaching Cerberus with a single red rubber ball in her hand. She called out to the massive guard dog. “Does he want to play?”

It was if some kind of switch had been flipped. Upon hearing the word ‘play’ Cerberus sank down into a play bow and wagged his stubby tail. He barked once, the sound waves strong enough to blow everyone back a few feet.

Using all of her might Sooyoung tossed the ball underneath Cerberus’ legs and watched him trip over his own paws to try and catch it.

Behind her everyone was speechless. Had Sooyoung really just tamed the world’s most loyal guard dog with a red rubber ball?

It appeared so because a moment later he returned, dropping the now spit-soaked ball at Sooyoung’s feet. Sooyoung didn’t seem to mind the dog slobber at all and picked up the ball to throw it again.

“Sit.” The ground shook as the giant guard dog immediately sat down, his gaze completely focused on the ball in Sooyoung’s hand. “Good boy.” 

She tossed the ball again and while the giant Rottweiler had his back turned the daughter of Ares muttered, “Sneak past him while he’s distracted.”

Not needing to be told twice, Seulgi, Seungwan and Procyon snuck past Cerberus while Sooyoung lavished him with praise. The next toss allowed Joohyun and Yeri to join them on the other side.

“How is Sooyoung going to get past him?” Seungwan asked. She looked over at the daughter of Ares, worry etched on her face.

“Trust her,” Seulgi replied easily. “She knows what she’s doing.”

As usual, she turned out to be correct. Joohyun thought what happened next was nothing short of a miracle.

Girl and dog played a few more rounds of fetch until the ball came back to Sooyoung in pieces. Cerberus whined, mourning the loss of his new toy.

“He’s such a good boy, isn’t he?” Sooyoung praised.

Cerberus flopped over on his side and lifted his paws, pink tongues lolling out happily. Sooyoung approached the Rottweiler fearlessly and began scratching his belly with her celestial bronze spear.

In front of them, Joohyun’s mouth dropped open. Cerberus was supposed to be the unshakeable guardian of the Underworld and a sixteen-year-old girl had literally brought him to his knees. 

“Will you let me through, big guy?” Sooyoung asked, still rubbing the Rottweiler’s belly with the tip of her spear. “I promise I’ll come back to play with you later.”

Cerberus tilted his heads and let out a soft whine. He rolled over again and nosed at the shredded remains of the ball. It was almost as if he was giving Sooyoung permission. With a smile, Sooyoung picked up the bits of her ball and calmly scooted past Cerberus to join the other girls.

“How in Hades did you manage to control Cerberus like that?” Seungwan asked as soon as they were out of earshot of the guard dog.

Sooyoung shrugged, her back still facing the other girls. “I like dogs. And even though he’s gigantic he’s still a dog. I got the feeling that Hades doesn’t play with him a lot so I thought I could earn his trust that way.”

As they left Cerberus behind and headed towards the center of the Underworld, Joohyun noticed that a few tears were rolling down Sooyoung’s face. “Are you okay?”

The daughter of Hades inhaled shakily, rubbing her eyes and putting on a brave smile. She tucked the remains of the red rubber ball in her bag. “Yeah. I’m fine. I feel bad though, I promised him I’d come back to play with him someday.”

“You know if we survive this whole thing I’d be glad to bring you back here to play with him sometime.” Joohyun didn’t exactly know why she said that, but it seemed like the right thing to say. 

The smile on Sooyoung’s face could be seen even in the dim light of the Underworld.


	12. In Which Kang Seulgi Meets The Parents

Seulgi knew something in her relationship with Joohyun had changed the second the daughter of Hades woke up.

But it was Tofu’s reaction to her that really cemented this theory. The way he had reacted to her, letting her run her fingers through his fur…she hadn’t thought about it in the moment but remembered Yuri’s words of caution. Obviously the hellhound had sensed something, but Seulgi couldn’t say for certain if it was because of what happened with the Hydra.

That wasn’t the only thing either.

She _knew_ that Joohyun had seen the golden tether linking them together. The older girl had tried to hide it, but that one brief break in her expression had let Seulgi know that she wasn’t the only one seeing things. Whatever magic Seulgi had invoked to bring Joohyun back from the dead clearly had side effects. What those were remained to be seen, however. 

It made her head start to hurt if she thought about it too much. At the moment, she was satisfied simply knowing that Joohyun was alive and well.

As for the daughter of Hades, she seemed to be ignoring the whole thing. Seulgi hadn’t even gotten a chance to talk to the older girl about what she assumed was probably a very traumatic experience. Not that Seulgi wanted to push her into opening up. Besides, they had bigger things to worry about. Namely, the giant black citadel that loomed ever closer as the five of them walked towards the center of Hades’ domain.

There would be time to process trauma later. Maybe.

The air had grown even staler, and all around them hovered a strange grey mist, obscuring their vision. Occasionally Seulgi thought she saw the shadow of something at the corner of her vision. Joohyun explained that they were essentially witnessing the passage of souls as they moved through the Underworld. It unnerved everyone but Joohyun, who kept marching forward with purpose. The mist seemed to bend out of her way as she walked, as though the souls recognized the power in her blood.

“I can’t see a thing in this damn fog, how do you know where we’re going?” Seungwan waved a hand in front of her face, trying in vain to dispel the mist.

“Believe me, I wish I could forget,” Joohyun muttered.

“You spent time down here before coming to camp, right unnie?” Yeri asked, sticking closely to the daughter of Hades. Joohyun grunted in acknowledgement.

“I have a few memories of the Underworld, like playing by the River Styx with Tofu and Kimchi and making pomegranate pie with Persephone. Sometimes we’d walk through Elysium together…” She sounded almost wistful, which confused Seulgi. If most of her memories of this place were good, why did she hold a grudge against her father?

Sooyoung brought up the question for her. “So what happened?”

The daughter of Hades snorted. “My father. You’ve heard about the rule preventing the Big Three from having children, right? Obviously my birth ruined his whole track record, but after my mother died I had nowhere else to go. My blood meant monsters would hound me for my entire life, so he brought me down here. I was safe, but he had a domain to run, you know? He couldn’t shirk his duties to do something as meager as taking care of his own daughter.”

Seulgi felt a pang in her heart. She couldn’t imagine what a young Joohyun must have felt, to lose everything only to learn that her father couldn’t care less about her. It probably _really_ pissed her off to learn that Hades considered Persephone worthy enough to neglect his duties for. No wonder the older girl didn’t like to talk about her father.

No one said anything after that, and their party lapsed into silence. There wasn’t much _to_ say. Seungwan and Yeri soon broke away from Joohyun to chat, and Seulgi found herself doing the same, with Sooyoung of all people.

Out of all of them the daughter of Ares seemed to know Joohyun the best. She understood when to tease the older girl and when to call her out on her bullshit. Their relationship was iffy at times but Seulgi knew that Sooyoung would lay down her life for Joohyun’s in a heartbeat. She hadn’t yet had an opportunity to really talk with Sooyoung and was glad to finally get that chance.

“It occurred to me that I hadn’t yet thanked you for saving Joohyun’s life,” Sooyoung said, dragging her fingertips absentmindedly through Procyon’s fur as they walked. “Without you, she’d be dead.”

“Sooyoung I—”

“Will you just let me apologize, please? Like Hyun, I was less than pleased when you and Seungwan appeared but now I find myself wondering what would have happened if you hadn’t hijacked our quest. I’m glad Joohyun has someone like you watching her back.”

Seulgi felt her cheeks beginning to turn red with embarrassment. She never was one to take compliments with grace, they always made her blush.

Sooyoung’s cheeks were a similar color, and they turned away from each other at the same time, Seulgi letting out an awkward huff, “So about that whole thing with the Hydra and me foolishly admitting that I might be in love with Joohyun—"

“Look, you and I both know that Joohyun isn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to confronting her feelings. Now maybe that’s a family trait but give her time. I’ve seen the way you look at her and I’d bet a hundred drachma that she’s noticed it too.”

Seulgi was comforted by Sooyoung’s words and was about to thank the younger girl when Joohyun interrupted their moment. 

“We’re here.”

Hades’ throne room looked exactly like Seulgi thought it would based off the aesthetic she’d seen so far in the Underworld. She felt tiny as she walked past the giant black doors and into the room proper. The walls glittered with precious metals, sconces placed every few feet that bathed the room in an eerie green light. A single obsidian throne stood sentinel in the center of the room.

Yeri was the last one to cross the threshold and as she did so the doors slammed shut behind her, locking them in.

“Joohyun,” a voice called from the center of the throne room. A puff of dark energy that reminded Seulgi of the shadow magic she’d seen Joohyun wield wound its way past them, lingering for a brief moment next to the daughter of Hades before coalescing into a dark portal in front of the throne. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

A tall pale-skinned man appeared from the portal, dressed in a black hanbok. The fabric seemed to be made from the very shadows itself, swirling around the man’s figure. His very aura made Seulgi want to sink to her knees in submission, a feeling not unlike the one she experienced when she met Dionysus and Hermes. Which could only mean one thing.

Joohyun stared defiantly up at the man before them.

“Nice to see you too, Dad.”

XXX

“Why have you come here?” Hades asked, retreating to his throne and sitting down.

“Obviously I missed you _so_ much and I felt like it was time for a reunion,” Joohyun replied sarcastically. Seulgi shivered unconsciously, the older girl’s tone had become cold as ice, like back when they had first met. She was glad Joohyun’s anger was directed at someone else for once. Taking his silence as permission to continue, Joohyun all but growled, “Or maybe I just wanted to come down here and make your job of murdering me that much easier.” 

Seulgi watched for Hades’ reaction with bated breath. If he was angry about his daughter blatantly calling him out, he didn’t show it. As if he was used to it, Hades let out a small sigh.

“You know I would never harm you, Joohyun. You are my daughter.”

“I’m your disappointment, you mean,” Joohyun let out a bark of laughter. “What, did you finally get tired of my existence marring your otherwise perfect track record with the other gods? Thought that taking me out while I was on a quest would be the best way to cover your tracks?”

Hades opened his mouth as if to interrupt her, but Joohyun barreled on. “No, that wouldn’t be enough for you. You have to sic your lackeys on my friends too. They are _not_ a part of this and don’t deserve to be collateral damage in whatever sick game you play with demigod lives.”

“BAE JOOHYUN!” Hades’ voice boomed throughout the throne room, stunning his daughter into silence. Yeri yelped and hid behind Sooyoung. He fixed Joohyun with an almost pleading gaze and Seulgi was suddenly seized by the feeling that something was very wrong with the god of the Underworld.

“Joohyun, please,” he all but whispered. “You touch on subjects I cannot answer. The machinations of the gods are far beyond what you can understand as a mortal.”

Joohyun stomped up to her father, “Then _make_ me understand. You say you would never harm me, but the scars I’ve collected so far on this quest tell a different story.”

Hades stood up and floated past Joohyun in a cloud of shadow to stand in front of the giant glass window at the opposite end of the throne room. Placing his hands behind his back he turned around to address them. “You know Tartarus is home to some of this planet’s greatest evildoers? I’ve judged countless souls as they crossed the divide between life and death. I’ll do the same for you when your time comes. Tell me Joohyun, do the choices one makes determine whether or not they are a good person?”

Joohyun rolled her eyes. Of course he would be cryptic with her. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Answer me.”

Joohyun exhaled loudly, running a hand through her hair in frustration. “Fine. Overall, I’d say yes. The choices we make shape our lives, our personalities and our morals. But individually? No. Everyone makes bad choices in their lives, it’s an unavoidable truth. One decision does not determine the worth of someone’s “goodness”.

“Then you understand what I need you to.” Seulgi thought it was curious but Hades sounded almost relieved. It was almost as if he was trying to tell them something but was unable to do so directly. She looked beyond where the god of the Underworld was standing, out the window and towards the River Styx that shone in the distance. “Which is good because we’re out of time. You need to return to the surface.”

Joohyun narrowed her eyes, looking at her father suspiciously. “Out of time?”

Seulgi was suddenly struck with a thought. She’d met with Dionysus and Hermes before, and while they had been less than forthcoming with information they’d never actively avoided the question being asked. And again, maybe it was just her own thoughts running a mile a minute in her own head but…“Lord Hades, are gods also beholden to vows sworn on the River Styx?”

Joohyun turned to look at her like she had grown two heads. Seulgi could almost hear the older girl’s rebuke. _Out of all the things you could have asked?_

Seulgi could have sworn that he smiled. As his form shimmered and he began to dematerialize he let slip one final word. “Yes.”

Yeri was the first to break the silence after Hades disappeared. “Well that could have gone better.”

“We might as well stop by the portal to Tartarus on our way out and see what your dad was being all cryptic about,” Sooyoung suggested. Seulgi agreed with her. Her experiences with the gods in general had always left her with more questions than answers but this time it seemed as though Joohyun’s father was trying to insinuate something without running afoul of the vow he’d made. Of course, she could be overthinking the whole thing…

Joohyun seemed to think about it, tilting her head to the side. She looked back at where her father had stood just a minute prior, the smallest of frowns on her face. Everyone looked up to her as their leader and it would be her call on what to do next. Hades had told them to return to the surface, but he hadn’t exactly specified _when._ If Seulgi had learned anything about the gods, there was always a reason. “Alright then. We’ll swing by the portal on our way back towards the River Styx. Dad’s already mad at me, things couldn’t get any worse, could they?”

XXX

It turned out that things could indeed get worse. Something which was plain to see as they got closer and closer to the portal to Tartarus.

Joohyun furrowed her eyebrows. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

She broke off from the rest of the girls and started heading closer to Tartarus.

Seulgi wasn’t sure what Tartarus was _supposed_ to look like, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to look like this.

It looked like a scene taken straight out of a murder mystery, except the policemen and detectives had been replaced by Dracaena. At least a dozen of them milled around the outskirts of the yawning portal in fluorescent yellow vests, putting up caution signs and directing traffic flow away from the center of activity.

“I’m gonna take a wild guess and say this is abnormal,” Seungwan voiced the exact thoughts running through Seulgi’s head.

“Very,” Joohyun hummed thoughtfully. “There’s not usually this much activity around the portal, I wonder what happened?”

“Hey, isn’t that the snake lady we saw at the Statue of Liberty?” Yeri pointed at a familiar blonde figure in the distance, who was busy ordering around the Dracaena crews. “I thought she said Hades fired her?”

“She did…” Joohyun made a beeline for her friend, Seulgi and the others following behind.

Campe looked up from her clipboard, noticing Joohyun and giving her a small wave before slithering over to greet the daughter of Hades. “Joohyun, what are you doing back here?”

“I could ask you the same thing, I thought you said Dad fired you?”

Campe rolled her eyes, “He did. I was just starting to settle into my new job on Liberty Island too, when all of a sudden I get summoned back to the Underworld! Lord Hades reinstates me as the guardian of the portal to Tartarus but not before telling me ‘by the way, we’ve had a jailbreak, go fix it for me’. If I had a bit more confidence I’d tell him to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine but then he’d smite me or _worse_. He could fire me again!”

Joohyun stood patiently while Campe’s explanation went even further off topic. The poor Dracaena must have had a lot to get off her chest. As they chatted, Seulgi looked at the chaotic scene before her. Rubble was strewn about everywhere, and a large blackened scorch mark scarred the ground underneath their feet, originating at the portal. Seulgi’s eyes widened. Was all of this chaos caused by someone breaking out of Tartarus?

“We’ve had protective wards around Tartarus ever since some idiotic son of Poseidon almost got sucked in there a few years ago,” Campe continued, reaching down to pick up a piece of faintly-glowing rock. She turned the rubble around in her hands, almost as if she was seeing if any of it was still salvageable. “Hecate herself made these, they _should_ have been impenetrable.”

“I hate to ask, but what exactly could be powerful enough to break these wards?” Joohyun peered past Campe to look down at the swirling black pit. Tartarus was home to all manner of nasty creatures.

“I can count on one hand the number of denizens down there with that much power,” Campe looked unnerved. “I _knew_ something like this would happen when Lord Hades fired me. Constant vigilance is the only effective deterrent.”

“You didn’t exactly answer my question, Campe,” Joohyun replied, not unkindly.

The Dracena snorted pulling up her left sleeve to reveal a shimmering set of Ancient Greek letters wreathing her upper arm, “That’s because I _can’t_.”

Joohyun was stunned. “Dad put a silencing spell on you.”

“Before he fired me, yes. I can’t figure out exactly why, but I have my suspicions.” Campe returned to her notes. “All I know is that he left me with this giant mess to clean up. I’ve got a dozen escapees to find before they do something stupid. Do you have any idea how much paperwork I’m going to have to do to get this sorted? The payrolls for the cleaning crews alone are going to chew into the Finance department’s budget…” 

“When exactly did this happen?” Joohyun interrupted her friend before she could go off on another tirade.

Campe tapped her pen against her chin thoughtfully. “Hmm…we got the first alert a few days before Persephone went missing…”

“Campe, can I see your notes? This is the list of escapees?” Seungwan asked politely. The Draecena shrugged and handed her notes over to the daughter of Artemis, who pored over the list of names with a practiced eye.

“The ones we know about, yes.”

“Yeri, come here and put that mythology knowledge to use. Are any of these names demigods?”

Joohyun seemed to sense that she was onto something. “You’re not thinking…?”

“Look, we know that a demigod took Persephone based on the fact that the gods are forbidden from interfering. Besides, the timelines match up far too much for my liking. There just happens to be a huge jailbreak just _days_ before a goddess goes missing?”

Seulgi jumped in with her own thoughts. “Not to mention your father was being _way_ too cryptic. He said gods were also beholden to vows sworn on the River Styx. And going as far as to put a silencing spell on one of his most trusted wardens? There’s something he didn’t want her telling anyone.”

“So what, are you thinking this is all just one big ruse?” Yeri asked.

Seungwan shook her head. “I’m saying what if taking Persephone served two purposes? One being to con Hades into swearing on the River Styx so he would be beholden to someone else. The other to cover up the fact that they had escaped from Tartarus. The most pressing issue to the gods would be one of their own coming up missing.”

A lot of things suddenly made sense to Seulgi. It didn’t explain _everything_ but it was the first real solid lead they’d gotten since embarking on the quest. Maybe coming to see Hades wasn’t the worst idea after all.

As if he had heard her, Hades suddenly appeared in front of them in a puff of smoke, causing the Draecena around them to drop their tools and sink into a low bow. He looked agitated, and that scared Seulgi more than the surprise appearance. What in the world could cause a _god_ to show fear?

“She knows. She knows you’re here Joohyun, you must leave. _Now._ ”

Joohyun crossed her arms. “Wait, so _now_ you’re willing to talk to me?”

The god of the underworld snapped his fingers and all of a sudden their entire world was blanketed in darkness. Hades appeared in front of them again, this time dressed in a neatly-pressed black suit.

“Quickly now, I can’t hold off Her magic for very long,” Hades’ voice softened.

“What the hell—” Joohyun started to speak but Hades gently shushed her.

“I’m sorry I can’t be of much help to you, my vows prevent me. However I _can_ give you something.” Hades pointed at Yeri with one long spindly finger, beckoning her forward. With a little shove from Sooyoung and a muttered “don’t be rude, he could kill us all”, their maknae stepped forward. He waved his hand and an unassuming black baseball cap appeared in front of him, which he handed to Yeri. The daughter of Hermes took the proffered gift with shaking hands, quickly retreating behind Joohyun.

The daughter of Hades took Yeri’s hand in her own to calm her down, all the while staring her father down with not an ounce of fear in her eyes, waiting for an explanation.

“You’ll need all the help you can get if you want to stop Her from rising.”

Hades snapped his fingers and Joohyun disappeared before she could ask him to clarify. Another caused Seungwan, Sooyoung, Yeri and finally Procyon to vanish as well. Leaving Seulgi alone with him.

“Who’s the ‘Her’?” Seulgi asked. Hades shook his head.

“I cannot tell you. Know only that the power that you carry is more powerful than you think, daughter of Apollo. Bringing my daughter back from the dead is child’s play for the force inside you.”

Seulgi’s head spun with the warning she had just been given. Her power was capable of even more than resurrection?

“Is it safe?” she asked timidly. She needed to know if she was a danger to her friends.

“Dawnbringer is a rare Apollo trait. One I haven’t seen manifest in centuries. So no, by nature it is _not_ safe.” He noticed the panicked expression on Seulgi’s face and held up his hands in a placating gesture. “However I suppose the manner in which it is used determines its alignment. Like my daughter so eloquently put it, the choices you make shape your life. What you do with this power is up to you.”

“Before I send you back, pass on a message to my daughter, would you? I wish I was a better father, we gods aren’t built for child-rearing. The four of you are her family now.” Hades waved his hand and the shadows around Seulgi’s feet began crawling up her body. She felt a familiar tug in her gut that reminded her of the feeling she had when being teleported through Iris’ portal. Only this time there were no rainbows.

“Wait, Lord Hades I—"

“Take care of my daughter, Kang Seulgi. When you stole her back from death’s grip you tied your fates together and set in motion a chain of events. The outcome of which even I do not know. You’ll find the answers you seek back where you began.”

The next thing Seulgi knew, there was grass underneath her feet. She sucked in a breath of fresh air, reveling in the almost sweet feeling of _life._ Seulgi shielded her eyes and squinted. After the endless dark of the Underworld, the sudden brightness of the sun made her skin tingle uncomfortably. It looked like Hades had had enough of their meddling and sent them back to the surface. She looked around, trying to figure out where he had dropped them off. The woods seemed almost familiar…

Warm arms suddenly wrapped around her back. Seungwan. “Seulgi, thank the gods! I thought Joohyun’s dad decided to keep you down there!”

Joohyun, Sooyoung and Yeri soon joined them, looking relieved that Seulgi had finally joined them. Procyon barked at Seulgi in greeting, running up to her from Sooyoung’s side and licking her hand. Yeri still had the black baseball cap clutched in her hands, looking like she was afraid to let it out of her sight. “What happened down there after we left?”

Seulgi didn’t know how to answer that question. Hades had dumped a lot of information on her, not the least of which was that she was stronger than she thought possible. “He told me some stuff about my powers and that we needed to stop _Her_ from rising. Whoever that is.”

“Probably whoever was strong enough to break out of Tartarus,” Joohyun deduced. “And judging from what Campe said, there aren’t many things down there with enough power to stage a jailbreak and puppet my father from the shadows.”

“So while we still need to find Persephone, the first thing we need to do is find out who’s behind all this chaos,” Yeri said.

Seulgi nodded. “And Hades told me we’d find answers back where we began.”

They didn’t have much time to think about what Hades may have meant when an arrow embedded itself into the ground less than a foot from Seungwan, who jerked back with a yelp. The five of them instantly went on alert, drawing their weapons and looking around for the mysterious assailant.

A second later a ring of armored soldiers melted out of the woods around them, wearing full Greek battle gear. Their weapons were pointed at Seulgi and the others. One of them stepped forward and took off her helmet. Yeri immediately recognized her. “Tzuyu?” 

In the distance a war horn blew.

“No wonder these woods looked familiar,” Seulgi said.

Joohyun nodded, “We’re back at the camp.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long, this summer has been wild! (mostly good things tho) I got the chance to work with my University's Korean department to help with some of their lower level Korean classes (which is all I'm confident helping with) and it was a lot of fun. I'm so glad to have Wendy back too, in fact the only thing running through my mind the last twenty four hours is "Clean air for all!" 
> 
> I tried to work that one into this chapter too, believe me. I tried so hard. Anyway, hope you enjoy/it makes sense, I find myself wondering if people understand my writing all the time...


	13. In Which Kang Seulgi Finally Gets Some Goddamn Answers

Tzuyu spoke first, signaling for her soldiers to back down. “Yeri? What are you guys doing here, I thought you were on a quest?”

“We technically still are, I guess? Look, there was a whole thing with the Labryinth, a chimera, a Hydra, We met Joohyun-unnie’s dad and he’s kind of an asshat—” Yeri scratched her neck uncertainly.

“You were in the Underworld?” Tzuyu interrupted her, relief flashing across her face. “Thank the gods, that explains it.”

Seulgi noticed for the first time that the daughter of Athena looked utterly exhausted. Dark circles hung under her eyes and underneath her armor she could see that her left shoulder had been wrapped in bandages. Something had clearly happened since they left. “Explains what?”

“Tzuyu, we’ve got another reading coming!” Nayeon broke through the ranks, handing a tablet over to the daughter of Athena. Seulgi knew whatever transpired had to be serious if Athena and Ares kids were working together with no animosity between them. “They must have sensed a spike in energy.”

“Damn it,” Tzuyu swore, putting her helmet back on and turning back to her soldiers. “We’ve got another wave incoming, I want everyone on alert!” She turned back to Joohyun, “I hate to ask this of you after you’ve just come back, but we need all the help we can get at this point.”

Joohyun’s face immediately took on that of her leader persona. “Of course, what are we fighting?”

A strange clacking sound reached their ears, and through the trees on the other side of the clearing a single shadowy creature appeared. Jet black with wickedly long claws attached to spindly fingers, the creature leaped out into the clearing, mouth clacking like mad. Its body was similarly thin, and as it began running towards the gathered demigods its movements were jerky, as though an invisible puppeteer stood behind it, guiding its steps.

“Fire!” Came Tzuyu’s order, and a second later the creature collapsed, its body riddled with arrows. The clacking sound stopped, and a second later its body disintegrated, the shadows melting back into the ground.

“Well, that didn’t look too bad,” Yeri said, sheathing her daggers. 

Tzuyu shook her head, her eyes still trained on the woods where the creature had emerged from. “That’s only the beginning.”

Seulgi watched in abject horror as the trees began to rustle and at least fifty of the same creatures came into view. The clacking sound surged and then the wave charged for them. 

Tzuyu sighed, readying her sword and shield. Beside her, Nayeon roared a challenge. “I have no idea what those things are, but they’ve been attacking us every few hours since you guys left.”

XXX

Seulgi fell back, wiping the sweat off her brow and breathing heavily. Those damn shadow creatures were a lot more resilient than she thought. She’d lost count of how many arrows she had sunk into their forces; at the tail end of the fight she’d been forced to take out her knives to finish off the last few but one thing was for certain. They weren’t here to play.

“We’re never gonna catch a break, are we?” Seungwan panted.

“I thought this was bad, I can’t imagine having to fight them every few hours,” Seulgi agreed. Nayeon walked over to them, carrying a couple of fresh canteens in her hands and offering them to Seulgi and Seungwan. The daughter of Ares had waded directly into the fight and had come out of it with only a single gash down her leg where one of the creatures had scored a lucky hit in-between her armor plates. Seulgi took a long drink, thankful that the battle seemed to be over for now. “Are you okay?”

Nayeon nodded her head, limping slightly to avoid putting too much pressure on her injury. “I will be. This attack wasn’t the worst we’ve had, but every time we fight them they’re a little harder to kill. It’s almost like they’re learning from their mistakes.”

Tzuyu beckoned them over, “Our readings are clear for now, so let’s head back to camp and rest before the next spike shows up. With any luck we’ll be able to get a little time off.”

“How is everyone at camp?” Seungwan asked, getting to her feet and brushing the dirt off her pants.

“A lot has changed since you guys left, and none of it for the better.” 

Walking through the campgrounds again felt almost surreal to Seulgi. Was it really only a couple of weeks since she’d found out about demigods? Their group had quickly separated, with Sooyoung and Yeri taken by their siblings and Yuri dropping by to ask if Seungwan could help her down at the stables. Even Procyon had been co-opted by a group of Ares kids, who fawned over the Labrador and convinced Joohyun to let them play with him. As Procyon bounced away with his tail wagging cheerily Seulgi couldn’t help but smile. A love for dogs must be an Ares trait. 

The grounds looked worse for wear, Seulgi noticed as they walked. Defensive palisades had been hastily erected at strategic intervals throughout the camp, with demigods patrolling the area on high alert. She noticed Felix running around one of the forges with a group of his siblings as he barked out orders. Even the volleyball court had been jerry-rigged into a triage zone, with Tzuyu explaining that their infirmary had been running on fumes since the attacks began. They were well stocked for one or two attacks but they were not prepared for a prolonged assault.

“It doesn’t help that Solar’s gone missing. Even Mr. D up and left a few days ago, although that second part isn’t nearly as worrying, he’s a god after all, they do things on their own timetables.” Nayeon winced, adjusting the straps on her armor so it didn’t chafe against her latest battle wound. “The vacuum in leadership was something we really didn’t need, though.”

Seulgi stopped in her tracks. “Wait, Solar’s missing?” 

Tzuyu nodded somberly. “A couple days after you left a squad of Apollo campers were on patrol. They didn’t come back. That’s when the attacks really started to pick up.”

Joohyun closed her eyes, “How many?”

“Four. Solar, Somi, Jihyo and Hoseok.” They all fell silent, nobody wanting to bring up the likely truth that they’d never see them alive again. The sentiment was there though, and Seulgi’s heart sank. She didn’t know Jihyo or Hoseok very well, but Somi had been one of her very first friends at camp and Solar had gone out of her way to make sure Seulgi settled into their cabin after getting claimed. These were her siblings, and something told her that their sudden disappearances weren’t a coincidence.

“We send out a patrol every day to look for them,” Nayeon said, her voice uncharacteristically quiet. She sniffled, turning around so no one could see the single tear that rolled down her cheek. Seulgi had always thought of the Ares campers as fiery, ambitious and confident in themselves and their abilities. Seeing Nayeon in such a state really drove home the importance of their mission.

They walked in silence for a while, leaving Seulgi to think about their next steps. Hades had told her that she’d find answers back where she began. Of course he’d neglected to tell her any specifics, so it left her at a loss.

Joohyun spoke up, “We’re still technically not done with our quest, but my father told us we’d find some answers here. I don’t know how long we’re going to be sticking around, but while we’re here is there anything we can do to help you guys out?”

Tzuyu nodded, “I’ll take you guys to see Mina, she’s been heading our research effort into these shadow creatures. Poor girl’s been holed up in our library for days now, her girlfriend has to bring her food every evening.”

“Athena kids,” Nayeon scoffed good naturedly. “Once they get hooked on an idea they chase it until they come out victorious. Bunch of nerds.”

“Alright that’s enough out of you,” a voice said, causing Nayeon to freeze up. “Get your ass to the volleyball court for triage before I make you.”

Nayeon turned around to face her very irate girlfriend with an embarrassed smile on her face. “Hey babe.”

“Don’t ‘hey babe’ me Nabongs, I see you limping,” Jeongyeon approached their group with a worried look on her face. Watching the two of them together always gave Seulgi a warm feeling in her heart. “I thought I told you to take a break, they don’t need you on the front lines for every wave!”

Nayeon sighed, turning to apologize to her friends, “Well I guess my girlfriend is benching me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I should leave before my girlfriend decides to strangle me with vines. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to let me know.”

Seulgi hadn’t been to the library at all during her brief tenure at camp before heading out with Seungwan. She remembered Somi gleefully trading her library chores with Tzuyu after their capture the flag game and wondered if the younger girl was still alive. Seulgi wouldn’t allow herself to dwell on that thought though, until they learned otherwise she would operate under the assumption that her missing siblings were okay.

The library itself was situated a short walk from the Big House, next to a small pond and far enough away from the forges and training areas so research could be conducted in peace. Even in the chaos, the area around the library remained peaceful and quiet. 

As they walked in, Seulgi could definitely see why the sons and daughters of Athena liked working in the library. The walls were lined with bookshelves containing everything from monster manuals to thick tomes on Ancient Greek mythology and politics. To Seulgi the slightly musty smell that permeated the air was comforting, bringing back memories of when she’d read books underneath her covers as a child, using only a flashlight to illuminate the text.

Piled on one of the study desks at the back of the library were about a dozen or so books, some of which appeared to be _very_ old. Sitting on one of the chairs diligently poring over a cracked and faded scroll written in Ancient Greek was a young woman. She looked up from her reading with a small smile when Tzuyu approached, her voice so quiet that Seulgi had to strain to hear her. “Tzuyu, I was hoping you’d be back soon, I think I’ve found something!”

“Mina, you already know Joohyun of course but this is Seulgi, daughter of Apollo. Seulgi, this is Mina, daughter of Athena.”

Mina stood up and shook hands with Seulgi. “Nice to meet you. You and your friends are the talk of the camp already with the way you guys so effortlessly handled the latest monster attack.”

Seulgi blushed, “We had a lot of help, a welcome change after the last few skirmishes. Tzuyu said you and your siblings have been researching the strange shadow creatures that have been attacking?”

Mina’s eyes lit up at the chance to explain her research and she clapped her hands gleefully, picking up the scroll she’d been reading and handing it over to Seulgi. “Our first thought was obviously that these creatures were somehow beholden to Hades, and that was our running theory until you five showed up. They attacked Joohyun with no remorse, which was concerning because I’ve never seen a god willingly attack their own children.”

“Believe me, I can,” Joohyun muttered under her breath.

Tzuyu cut in, “So we scrapped that. There are tons of things out there that use shadow magic, it’s just a matter of finding out who or _what_ is responsible.”

Seulgi pulled out the list Seungwan had taken from Campe earlier, handing it to Mina. “Maybe we can help. Joohyun and I learned a bunch of things on our quest, not the least of which was a prison break in Tartarus.”

Tzuyu’s eyes widened dramatically, “There was a jailbreak and no one thought to tell us?”

Joohyun scoffed, “We rank lower than dirt on the totem pole of the gods’ priorities. I’m not surprised Dionysus up and left without informing anyone.”

Mina looked over the list, “No Tzuyu, we can use this.” She walked over to the teetering stack of tomes on her desk and ran her fingers down their spines until she found the one she was looking for. Pulling it out with a grunt of effort she began flipping through the pages. “Alright, either pick a book and start researching or get the hell out of my library!”

Seulgi’s eyes widened at the daughter of Athena’s sudden change in demeanor. This was going to be interesting.

XXX

Three hours later and they were no further in figuring out what was behind the strange shadow creatures. Seulgi was beginning to fall asleep at her desk, there were only so many myths she could read before getting bored.

“Ugh, this is useless,” Joohyun complained, slamming her book closed. “I didn’t think there were _this_ many things in Tartarus with shadow powers.”

“I’ll be damned, I think I got it,” Mina said, turning the book around to show Seulgi and the others. “You said that Hades appeared to be under someone else’s control, and that he mentioned a Her. There are only a few things whose powers surpass that of a god.”

Seulgi squinted at the passage she was pointing at. “Nyx?”

“The Greek Primordial Goddess of Night,” Mina recited.

“She’s not a normal goddess?” Joohyun asked, leaning forward curiously. Mina shook her head.

“According to this, no. Unlike our parents, Nyx is said to have created herself. She predates both the gods and the Titans. Think of her as like Gaea powerful.”

Seulgi sat back, stunned by the revelation. If what Mina said was true, then the five of them had become entangled in one _hell_ of a situation. It made sense though. As a Primordial goddess, she would definitely have the power needed to both break out of Tartarus and enslave Hades. That still left her with more than a few questions though. “Wait, if Nyx is as powerful as the book says there has to be a reason behind why she’s chosen now to cause chaos.”

Mina tilted her head considering Seulgi’s words, “You’re right. I can’t imagine what that would be though. This camp is a safe haven for demigods but we’re just kids, it’s not like we pose much of a threat to her.”

Joohyun sighed. “Great, so we have a name but no motive. If we assume Nyx is somehow the one who took Persephone we still don’t have any proof. All we have are a few missing demigods and these shadow creatures.”

Now that she put it like that Seulgi had to agree with her. What use was knowing _who_ was behind everything if they couldn’t figure out the why? 

“Names can provide a lot of information though,” Mina pointed out. “We can focus our search now on Nyx’s mythology. The more we know about her the more likely it is that we’ll find something useful.”

Following Mina’s advice, the four of them turned their focuses on learning more about Nyx. As Seulgi read, she realized just how ingrained Nyx was in Greek mythology, albeit from the shadows. As a Primordial Goddess, Nyx had had a hand in just about everything related to creation. Judging by what she’d read, Nyx was a being of great beauty and power. Which made it all the more concerning to Seulgi. Why was she choosing now to cause trouble?

“Guys listen to this!” Mina cleared her throat and read aloud, “ _And Nyx bare hateful Moros and black Ker and Thanatos, and she bare Hypnos and the tribe of Oneiroi. And again the goddess murky Nyx, though she lay with none, bare Momos and painful Oizys, and the Hesperides. . . Also she bare the Moirai and the ruthless avenging Keres . . . Also deadly Nyx bare Nemesis to afflict mortal men, and after her, Apate and Philotes and hateful Geras and hard-hearted Eris*._ Wow, she had a _lot_ of kids. And they’re definitely not the friendly type."

“Whoa, whoa back up there,” Joohyun said suddenly, looking startled. “Both Thanatos _and_ the Keres are children of Nyx?”

Mina nodded, “According to Hesiod they are. Why, does that change anything?”

Seulgi understood why Joohyun was surprised by this revelation. They had encountered both during their quest. At first Seulgi thought Hades was the one responsible for sending his lieutenants after Joohyun and the rest of their group. But what if he hadn’t?”

“No,” Joohyun sat back, brows furrowed in concentration. She muttered to herself, looking troubled, “Maybe he wasn’t responsible after all…”

Mina tilted her head, almost like she was debating whether or not to press the daughter of Hades further. Evidently deciding against it, she returned to her reading.

“Well this is concerning,” Tzuyu said a minute later, holding a worn-out scroll in her hands. “Check it out, this is from an old compendium of previous prophecies. Whenever one is given to a demigod it is written down here. This one is so old that I can’t read parts of it, but a good chunk of it is still here. If this reads what I think it means, we’re in trouble.”

_“From the other side of Elysium sluggish streams of darksome night belch forth a boundless gloom*._

_Mother of Night…_ I can’t read this part it’s been damaged, something about a scepter and _endless doom_.

_To balance the chaos, five warriors He will call_

_The fight is long, and two will succumb, but to light and dawn will dusk and darkness fall.”_

Mina stood up straight, grabbing the scroll from Tzuyu, “Eh? This sounds like a Great Prophecy.”

Seulgi was confused, there were multiple different kinds of prophecies? Sensing her confusion, Mina explained, “Most prophecies foretell some major event that will happen, either now or in the future. But Great Prophecies take the form of a warning, usually about great future catastrophes.”

“Like end of the world type stuff? Seulgi asked.

Joohyun nodded, “Mina if you’re right, we’re walking into something truly dangerous. Forget Persephone, we need to warn the gods right now.”

“What good will that do?” Tzuyu carefully took the prophecy scroll back from Mina and rolling it up. “Mr. D has already left us and we haven’t been able to get in contact with any of them for days now. Even Iris isn’t answering our calls. They’re probably all locked up on Olympus, preparing for the worst. Face it Joohyun, we’re alone.”

“Not necessarily,” Seulgi said, causing the three other girls to look at her. “We know there’s one goddess out there who hasn’t retreated to Olympus.”

“Yeah, and no one knows where she is,” Irene muttered bitterly.

Seulgi wracked her brain. _Come on Seulgi think!_ She’d seen Persephone, she’d literally _been_ in the goddess’ shoes that one night. There must have been something she missed. She played back the memory in her head.

Dark, underground cave. Unbreakable chains. The Sons of Lycaon surrounding her, tearing into her flesh. And the last thing she saw before fading: a tiny blue—

“HOLY SHIT!”

Joohyun jumped in surprise at Seulgi’s sudden outburst. “What the hell, Seul?”

“Hyun, I know where Persephone is. She’s in the Labyrinth.”

Excerpts about Nyx (course some liberties were taken with the story…)

 _Hesiod, Theogony 211 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) :_  
"And Nyx bare hateful Moros (Doom of Death) and black Ker (Fate of Death) and Thanatos (Thanatus, Death), and she bare Hypnos (Hypnus, Sleep) and the tribe of Oneiroi (Dreams). And again the goddess murky Nyx, though she lay with none, bare Momos (Momus, Criticism) and painful Oizys (Misery), and the Hesperides (Evenings) . . . Also she bare the Moirai (Moirae, Fates) and the ruthless avenging Keres (Deaths) . . . Also deadly Nyx bare Nemesis to afflict mortal men, and after her, Apate (Deceit) and Philotes (Sex) and hateful Geras (Old Age) and hard-hearted Eris (Strife)."

 _Pindar, Dirges Fragment 129 (trans. Sandys) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) :_  
"From the other side [of Elysium] sluggish streams of darksome night belch forth a boundless gloom

_Orphica, Theogonies Fragment 101 - 102 (from Proclus) (trans. West) (Greek hymns C3rd - C2nd B.C.)_

[Phanes] placed his distinguished sceptre [the rulership of the universe] in the hands of goddess Nyx (Night), that she hold royalty . . .

(sources taken from <https://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Nyx.html>) Look at me, citing my shit.


	14. In Which Kang Seulgi and Bae Joohyun Build Furniture And Talk About Their Feelings

Seulgi and Joohyun walked towards the Big House after parting ways with Tzuyu and Mina to meet up with Seungwan, Sooyoung and Yeri to inform them of the latest developments. The tension between the two of them was building, but it didn’t look like they were going to have any free time to sit down and talk with each other, especially now that they knew what they needed to do. All Seulgi could hope was that they’d get the chance before things went to hell.

Or before Nyx killed them all. They were still clueless about the goddess’ ultimate plan but whatever she was scheming up, it couldn’t be good.

As they walked up the steps to the giant cabin in the middle of camp, another squad of armored warriors rushed out the front doors and past them, clearly in a hurry to get somewhere. Seulgi hoped they weren’t going to fight another wave of those shadow creatures already.

Judging from the voices streaming down the hall and leading into the living room, she wasn’t the only one worried.

“- no, I am not letting you guys just walk out of here to find another Labyrinth entrance, you heard the latest warning. Those shadowy bastards are getting stronger, plus you guys look like you haven’t rested properly in days. Sooyoung’s practically an inch away from going feral after raging so much –“

“Nayeon, we don’t have a choice! We _need_ a little divine intervention and if the gods aren’t answering us we need to find the one goddess who we know for sure is still within reach.” Seulgi recognized Seungwan’s voice as she talked to the leader of the Ares cabin.

“Babe, she’s right,” said a voice that could only be Jeongyeon’s. “I know you don’t want them to get hurt but –“

“Little late for that, Jeong, if what Seungwan told us is true. Joohyun’s already died once!”

Joohyun rolled her eyes and flung open the doors to the living room, startling everyone inside. Seulgi saw all the head counselors (minus Solar of course) together with Seungwan, Sooyoung and Yeri discussing – no, arguing – about their plan of operation.

“I didn’t stay dead though, did I Nabongs?” Joohyun said. Nayeon scoffed at her, refusing to look her in the eyes. “We’ll take our chances, things literally cannot get any worse, we’ve already lost Solar!”

A ripple of agreement went through the gathered counselors.

“Wait, we’re actually going back to the Labyrinth?” Seungwan asked, and Joohyun nodded, sitting down to relay the information they’d discovered.

Ten minutes later and the interim head of the Apollo cabin, a girl named Siyeon, was the first to speak up. “…Nyx, huh?”

“Yup,” Joohyun said.

“Damn, we’re fifty shades of fucked if that’s true,” the girl replied simply, sitting back and playing absentmindedly with the silver ring on her finger. Joohyun shot her an annoyed look, clearly disliking her casual swearing, but Seulgi liked her already, her personality reminded her a lot of Yeri. “So. What can we do to help?”

“Get us back to the Labyrinth,” Seulgi jumped in. “We know that’s where she’s hiding, it’s only a matter of finding the exact location.”

“Not so fast,” Nayeon interrupted. “Finding an entrance is one thing, but how do you expect to navigate it? I don’t see any of you with Ariadne’s string.”

There was a soft bark at Sooyoung’s feet and a black-furred head popped into view. The daughter of Ares smiled, patting Procyon’s head affectionately. “We’ve got the second part covered.”

“Your plan is to find Persephone with a Labrador?” Jeongyeon said in disbelief.

“His name is Procyon and he has feelings,” Sooyoung looked offended.

“He’s an infallible hound,” Joohyun explained. “He can track anything as long as we have the scent.”

Nayeon huffed, “Fine. That still leaves the first problem. The Labyrinth has a metric crap ton of hidden entrances and exits.”

Seulgi had to agree with her. The closest entrance to their current location was back in Manhattan and she had the feeling that those shadowy creatures wouldn’t let them get very far outside the camp’s boundaries. “By any chance has anyone seen a small glowing blue delta symbol?”

The head of the Aphrodite cabin, a girl named Sana, raised her hand. “Blue delta, you said? That’s easy, there’s one by Zeus’ Fist, I saw it when we were playing capture the flag.”

XXX

Stepping back into the Labyrinth honestly didn’t feel as scary as it did the first time. Her eyes almost immediately adjusted to the darkness as they all took out their flashlights and began trekking down the long hallway.

The head counselors had all banded together and cut into their remaining supplies to restock them for the trip. _The five of you are literally walking into the lion’s den, let us play our part by helping to keep you safe,_ Tzuyu had said. Their backpacks were full of travel rations and emergency ambrosia courtesy of Siyeon and the Apollo cabin. The Hephaestus cabin had pitched in and fitted Procyon with a lightweight armored vest to protect him from potential monster attacks. Yeri’s siblings had given her a tiny jeweled tortoise as a good luck charm and even Nayeon had relented and allowed them all access to the Ares cabin’s sacred weapons vault. They were armed to the teeth with fresh weapons and armor, and much better prepared for any fights that may come their way.

Still, even with all the supplies in the world it didn’t erase the fact that the five of them were running on fumes. If given the choice, Seulgi would have rather stayed at camp for a few days to recuperate but on the current timeline that just didn’t fit. A couple of days could be the difference between life and death for them all.

Honestly, what Seulgi wouldn’t give for a nice warm bed to sleep in, without having to worry about keeping an eye out for monsters. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d gotten a full night’s sleep.

Evidently, someone agreed with her.

“Wow, you guys look like shit,” a voice said from somewhere above them. “Perfect time for a nap, don’t you think?”

“Jesus, we’ve been down here less than thirty minutes, how many of you _are_ there?” Joohyun grumbled as a smoky figure floated down to the ground and coalesced into the form of a young man in his twenties wearing a pair of comfy sweatpants and a band t-shirt. A pair of wings jutted out from the side of his head. If he wasn’t radiating that signature divine aura that Seulgi was used to feeling in the presence of gods, she would have thought he was a simple college kid who had overslept after a late night out. Even his hair was sleep-tousled. As if he noticed Seulgi’s staring he looked down at his body and realized what he was wearing. He snapped his fingers and a set of matching black silk pajamas enveloped his swirling gray body.

“That’s it?” he asked, looking slightly offended. “That’s all the reaction I get? No ‘O great Lord Hypnos, I bow down before your mighty will? Come on, I even had a really cool entrance!”

Sooyoung snorted, “Been there, talked with your twin brother already. He was more menacing.”

The wings on Hypnos’ head drooped slightly. “Mother always did like him better…”

Seulgi raised her hand tentatively, “Wait, you’re Hypnos? God of sleep?”

“In the flesh,” he replied, conjuring a wisp of gray smoke and manipulating it into a single poppy flower, which he handed to Seulgi with a sly smile. “So to speak. And _you_ must be the savior my mother’s been all up in arms about.”

“Get away from her,” Joohyun growled, stepping in between god and girl. She plucked the poppy flower out of Seulgi’s hands and let it fall to the floor. The daughter of Apollo didn’t have time to analyze Joohyun’s possessive move, but wow, did she like it when the daughter of Hades acted like that. _Wow, I really need to get these feelings sorted soon…_ “What do you want from us?”

Hypnos stepped back. “Contrary to what you may believe, I’m here to help.”

“Bullshit,” Sooyoung muttered, clearing her throat to disguise her words. Seulgi didn’t think it was a smart decision to antagonize a god but neither Sooyoung nor Joohyun seemed to be at all intimidated by him.

Actually, now that she thought about it, she really didn’t see him as very threatening either. He completely lacked the menacing aura she’d felt when they encountered Thanatos.

“You know despite popular belief I _do_ have my own agency,” Hypnos said unconvincingly. “I am a god after all and it is my sworn duty to look after mankind while they sleep.”

“Yeah, like we should believe anything coming from one of Nyx’s _sons,_ ” Joohyun challenged. “If you’re here to try and kill us, you’re not doing a very good job. Even the _Keres_ were more menacing.” 

“Don’t fuck with me,” Hypnos warned, his relaxed expression morphing into one of anger. “Do not mistake my relaxed attitude for weakness. I may not address mankind in the same pompous way as most of the other gods, but it would take me less than an instant to kill all five of you.”

The air started to ripple around him and Seulgi felt something brush against her forehead – a feather-light touch that reminded her of her mother back in Seoul, kissing her good night. Her whole body felt suffused in warmth, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up in her blankets and forget about this whole demigod business.

Hypnos’ eyes pulled her in, a black hole of nothingness that promised to take all of her pain and worry away. 

An angry roar broke through the dreariness, dragging Seulgi out of whatever hypnosis she had been put under. Her head felt stuffy, as though she had just woken up from a very unsatisfying nap. Next to her, Sooyoung looked absolutely pissed, her eyes red pinpricks of rage as she lunged for Hypnos. He jerked back, looking impressed with the daughter of Ares.

Yeri, Seungwan and Joohyun straightened up, rubbing the sleep from their eyes. With Sooyoung’s help they had successfully fought off Hypnos, but Seulgi knew that the god was only flexing the tiniest portion of his power. If he had wanted to kill them they would have been dead.

“Hmm…not bad, the five of you might actually make it out of this alive,” Hypnos said, observing the five girls in front of him, a thoughtful expression on his face. He turned to address Seulgi and Joohyun. “But you two need to get your shit together before it’s too late. Especially you, Bae Joohyun. Someone’s gotta drag you out of your favorite river in Egypt.” Joohyun opened her mouth as if to argue with him, but he held up his hand to stop her, eyes twinkling mischievously once again. “Actually, why don’t I help with that?”

“Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me,” Seulgi sighed as she felt that all-too familiar tug in her gut, her surroundings melting around her. The last thing she heard was Sooyoung yelling Ancient Greek profanities at the deity.

XXX

The next thing Seulgi knew, she was laying flat on her back, feeling cold stone beneath her. Gods, she was so _sick_ of unceremoniously getting portaled without warning. Levering herself into an upright position and wincing as her muscles protested the sudden movement she took a look at her surroundings.

Now she _knew_ that she was still in the Labyrinth, but whatever magic was being used made it look like she had been teleported to someone’s backyard. The house was decidedly Korean in structure, and as she shakily got to her feet the back door slid open to reveal a similarly disoriented Joohyun.

“Ugh, where have we gone this time?” was her way of greeting Seulgi. Joohyun looked up at the cloudy sky, frowning slightly as a slight drizzle began to fall. “We’re still in the Labyrinth right?”

“Yeah, but it’d be nice to have a raincoat or something,” Seulgi replied. As if it had heard her, a pair of clear rain ponchos appeared on the floor. Now thoroughly impressed she picked up one of the ponchos and put it on. “I’d also like to have a million dollars.”

The skies above them rumbled threateningly and Joohyun leveled Seulgi with an exasperated gaze. She shrugged. “Worth a shot, right?”

“That still doesn’t explain why we’re here.”

“Hypnos said we needed to ‘get our shit together’, whatever that means.”

“So what, are we supposed to build Ikea furniture together and hash out our feelings?” Joohyun rolled her eyes.

The words left her mouth and a second later a small crate of power tools and three big cardboard boxes appeared in the middle of the courtyard. Seulgi sighed, catching sight of the words written on the boxes in big blocky letters.

“Yeah, yeah I guess we are. At least there’s no monsters this time…”

XXX

“What did you do to them you good for nothing--?” Sooyoung lunged towards Hypnos with a feral snarl, her eyes flashing that telltale red. Ancient Greek profanities poured from her mouth while Yeri hauled her backwards, struggling to contain the daughter of Ares’ brute strength. 

Hypnos merely laughed. “Relax, they’re fine. Those two lovebirds just need to have some quality alone time to talk about their feelings.”

“Why?” Sooyoung asked. “In case you haven’t noticed we’re on a deadline. We don’t have time for you to play matchmaker with Seulgi and Joohyun.”

“Ah, so you’ve noticed it too.”

“Of course we have,” Yeri piped up. “They weren’t exactly being subtle with the whole sexual tension thing.”

Hypnos’ expression turned serious. “I needed to _make_ time for them to talk. Because the five of you are perhaps the only people capable of thwarting my mother’s grand plan. And you can’t do that if the Dawnbreaker’s attention is focused on something as insignificant as a crush.”

“You’re not loyal to Nyx?”

Hypnos sniffed, “Mother always favored my brother over me. I am too close to humanity and as such have developed a soft heart. I am too weak to serve her plans.”

“So you’re rebelling?” Seungwan couldn’t believe it. Had they really found an ally in one of Nyx’s sons because he was pissy about not getting included in the family slaughter time? Man, divine familial matters were soap-opera levels of petty. And these beings were in charge of the world?

Hypnos didn’t dignify that with an answer and instead changed the subject.

“Now, if I’m not mistaken you’re well on your way to finding Persephone, and by extension my mother, thanks to that furry homing beacon of yours. But before you do there’s something critical you need to learn.” He snapped his fingers and the Labyrinth around them began to twist and distort. The walls shifted from rock to stone to dirt to concrete more times than Seungwan could count before settling on the cracked and faded interior of an old Greek temple.

A large fountain stood in the middle of the circular room, on top of it the ruined remains of a statue. Seungwan couldn’t tell what the statue had originally been of, it was so weathered that it must have been there for centuries. Cold clean water still spouted from the top of the fountain though, so it must have been connected to _something_. Either way, Seungwan decided then and there that it probably wasn’t a good idea to try taking a sip.

But what really caught her eye was beyond the fountain where several painted murals hung on the wall.

“Take a good look, ladies,” Hypnos popped into existence once more, gesturing at the murals behind him with his head. “My mother doesn’t want me showing this to you and I’d rather not get caught while helping out her sworn enemies.”

With that last cryptic message, Hypnos shot them a lazy peace sign before disappearing in a whirlwind of grey mist and poppy flowers. 

XXX

“I almost wish we were fighting monsters instead,” Seulgi squinted at the set of directions in her hands, tilting the paper this way and that to try and work her way through the cryptic instructions. Whatever confidence she had before this project was gone now. It didn’t help that the rain was slowing down their progress even further. “Are these even in Korean?”

Beside her, Joohyun worked silently. The daughter of Hades was a _lot_ further along with her chair and Seulgi couldn’t help but pout inwardly as she looked at the mess in front of her. The tension between them was palpable, but neither wanted to be the first one to start what was sure to be an awkward conversation.

“I guess I’m talking to myself…” Seulgi muttered.

Joohyun’s cheeks colored. “I-I’m sorry. I said I would do a better job of listening to her teammates, didn’t I?”

Seulgi paused, setting her directions down, unsure of what to say next. She settled on, “Look, I know that we’re kind of neck-deep in a prophecy that got way out of hand, there hasn’t exactly _been_ time for us to talk with each other. But I think we need to address the elephant in the room.”

“You mean the Hydra fight,” Joohyun stated, looking up from her chair. _And my feelings for you,_ Seulgi added silently.

Seulgi nodded. “You died. I brought you back. I don’t know how I did it, but ever since that moment we’ve been…connected.”

Joohyun put down the drill she was holding. “You’ve seen the tether too?”

“At first I wasn’t exactly sure _what_ I saw. But it’s there, I can see it in the corner of my eye whenever we’re near each other. I thought maybe it was a side effect of bringing you back, but who knows?”

Joohyun didn’t respond, though Seulgi could sense that the older girl was thinking intensely about their interaction. They worked silently for a while, and the project slowly started to come together.

“I’m terrified,” Joohyun admitted, as they worked together to assemble the last few pieces of the table. “Not about the tether. What if we face Nyx and lose? We’re playing with countless lives here, Seul. Nayeon, Jeongyeon. Solar and the rest of your missing siblings. They’re counting on us.”

“I’m scared too,” Seulgi said, handing Joohyun a couple of screws and the drill. “A month ago I was boring old Kang Seulgi, obsessed with winning a solo on the dance team and worried about surviving high school. Now I’m sitting next to the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, building a couple of Ikea chairs and living the world’s cheesiest gay trope, all while talking about a primordial goddess of night who has made it her goal to kill me because my literally divine father blessed me with these stupid light powers - ”

She paused to take a breath, a little embarrassed that she let all that out in front of Joohyun.

“You think I’m pretty?” Joohyun asked shyly, and Seulgi’s face paled. She hadn’t meant to say that part out loud. “It’s okay, you’re cute when you ramble.”

“I really like you, Joohyun,” Seulgi finally admitted. “Like that. And maybe now’s not the proper time to confess anything when we could literally all be dead by this time tomorrow but I thought you should at least know.”

The daughter of Hades didn’t respond right away and Seulgi started to panic? What if she didn’t feel the same way?

“I like you too, Seulgi. Like that. I think I have ever since that night we played capture the flag. But I’m…not good with feelings. No one besides Sooyoung has ever bothered to get to know me that well before. So yes, I’m saying it’s mutual but can we take it slow? There’s a lot we need to get done first.” 

“Totally,” Seulgi said breathlessly, trying her hardest not to start cheering. “Whatever’s coming, we’ll face it together. Promise?” Seulgi reached out with her hand, pinky outstretched. Joohyun paused for a second, then nodded, a soft smile on her face. She returned the pinky promise and Seulgi’s heart thumped erratically. Gods, was Joohyun absolutely beautiful, with her wet hair plastered to her face and her poncho covered in fallen flower petals.

“Promise.”

The Labyrinth lurched underneath them, causing Joohyun to stumble forward into Seulgi’s arms. This time though, instead of breaking away with an awkward cough, the daughter of Hades sank further into Seulgi’s arms. She turned around to look at their completed project. “You know, I wonder if the Labyrinth will let us take these home after everything is said and done. We _did_ put in all that effort after all.”

Another rumble, which Seulgi interpreted as a definitive yes. Joohyun laughed, “Looks like we got our answer.”

They broke apart, and as they did so a single golden tether connected the two of them. Seulgi noticed immediately that it was a lot brighter than before and it didn’t break apart as soon as she looked away.

Not a moment later the gate behind them unlocked and a tunnel appeared, leading back into the darkness. It seemed like the Labyrinth was satisfied with their work and was letting them leave.

“Alright, I’d say we accomplished the task Hypnos set for us, wouldn’t you, Hyun? Let’s get out of here and find the others, we’ve got a goddess to save.”

XXX

“Holy shit,” Yeri whispered, swinging her flashlight around to take a closer look at the painted murals that lined the wall. She paused instinctively, waiting for Joohyun to scold her about inappropriate language but it never came. She hoped that wherever Hypnos had yeeted them, they were okay. “How old do you think these are?”

“Centuries old, at least,” Seungwan said almost reverently, brushing her fingertips over the cracked and faded murals. The Labyrinth had done a good job of preserving the artwork. “I wonder why the Hypnos and the Labyrinth brought us here?”

“We need to learn more about Nyx, maybe this damn maze finally got tired of sending us on wild-goose chases and decided to help us for once,” Sooyoung grumbled. The ground underneath their feet rumbled slightly, as if agreeing with her.

“I wonder what these murals are showing,” Seungwan said to no one in particular. Several stories seemed to be etched in the stone wall, but one four-paneled mural that appeared older than the others caught her eye. The first panel showed a feminine figure made of shadows extending her arms outward. A small horde of shadow creatures skittered at her feet, leading into the second mural. On it, an archer and thief stood back to back while the same creatures formed a circle, surrounding them.

The third showed a Greek warrior dressed in full battle gear fending off the creatures with his spear. Underneath his helmet his eyes glowed red. Yeri joked, “Hey look unnie, it’s you! See, he’s even got a dog next to him.”

Sooyoung peered closer at the mural. Sure enough, pressed against the warrior’s side and growling at the creatures was a giant wolfhound. “You’re projecting, Yeri. That looks nothing like Procyon.”

“Whoa.” The next mural was of a figure bathed in light, holding a black scepter in his right hand. A golden tether seemed to be linking him to something but that part of the mural had faded away entirely. He faced a giant writhing mass of shadowy tendrils, that seemed to be flinching away from the light. “Guys, doesn’t this look a little bit like Seulgi when she went all—” Yeri mimed an explosion, “—on the Hydra after it killed Joohyun-unnie?”

“Yeah,” Seungwan breathed. Everything seemed _way_ too similar to be a coincidence. She stepped back in shock. “Wait, guys, I think this _is_ Seulgi. Or rather, someone in the past who had the same kind of power that she does.”

“Which means this has happened before,” Sooyoung said. “This mural is the original iteration of the Great Prophecy we read.”

Seungwan nodded. “Nyx obviously wasn’t successful, if we’re going by what this is telling us.”

“Yeah, look. Nyx is scared of him,” Yeri said, tapping the figure made of light and returning to her sketching. A rough copy of the mural began to take shape on the paper as the maknae drew. She wanted to make sure they could remember the details after they left the room. “See? She’s flinching away from the light.”

“I’ll be damned,” Seungwan whispered, dashing over to Yeri and grabbing the notebook out of her hands. “ _That’s_ why they’ve gone missing.”

“What?” Yeri said, too curious by the daughter of Artemis’ statement to be angry that Seungwan had taken her notebook away mid-sketch.

“What do Somi, Solar, Jihyo and Hoseok all have in common?”

“Killer abs?” Sooyoung guessed.

Seungwan facepalmed, “Well yeah, but no. They’re all Apollo kids.” She pointed at the figure made of light. “Like _him._ ” 

Before Sooyoung could ask her to explain further, an ominous rumbling sound shook the walls around them. A section of the wall disappeared revealing Joohyun and Seulgi. Seungwan breathed a sigh of relief as the two of them walked out. They were unharmed. And upon closer inspection it became very clear that something between them had changed for the better.

“Finally! Where the hell did you two go?” The daughter of Ares asked.

“Seulgi and I had to put together a set of tables and chairs and talk about our feelings,” Joohyun replied easily.

Seungwan smirked. “And how did that go?”

Joohyun reached out her hand and grabbed ahold of Seulgi’s, who immediately blushed at the overt action but didn’t move to escape from the other girl’s grip. “We’re getting there.”

“Good for you,” Sooyoung applauded sarcastically. “While you two were being disgustingly domestic with each other _we”_ she gestured to herself, Seungwan and Yeri, “Actually managed to get some answers.”

“Those Apollo kids disappearing wasn’t a coincidence and we’ve found out why,” Seungwan interrupted, unable to stay silent any longer.

“Nyx is looking for Seulgi,” Yeri revealed, gesturing to the murals behind her. “She knows your power is the only thing standing in between her and victory.” 


	15. In Which Bae Joohyun Realizes The Power of OT5

“No, I’m not leaving you guys!” Seulgi couldn’t believe what she was hearing. After she and Joohyun had reunited with the others, the conversation quickly turned to their next move. To which Seungwan had brought up the unthinkable: escorting Seulgi back to camp.

“Nyx is literally looking for you, Seul,” Seungwan argued. “We’d be bringing you right to her!”

“Yeah, and I’m no Athena kid but that’s just a bad strategy,” Sooyoung added.

Even Yeri got in on the argument, “It’s literally like putting up a flashing neon sign that says ‘Free Dawnbreaker to a good home’.”

Seulgi crossed her arms, looking at Joohyun and fixing the daughter of Hades with the biggest puppy-dog eyes she could. The others could complain, the only opinion that really mattered at this point was Joohyun’s. She would go back to camp if Joohyun told her to, but she _really_ hoped the older girl would understand.

Again, it wasn’t something Seulgi could put into words, not exactly. All of her instincts were telling her to forge onward.

To her surprise, Joohyun seemed to understand. The older girl shook her head. “As much as I want to agree with you three, this isn’t my choice. It’s Seulgi’s.”

“Oh come on, you two haven’t even kissed yet why are you—?” A tendril of darkness crept up Sooyoung’s arm, effectively silencing the daughter of Ares. Sooyoung gulped, the unspoken threat having been received loud and clear. “—Fine. If she wants to put herself in harm’s way who am I to stop her?”

Joohyun turned to Seulgi. “Are you _sure_ you want to continue? Just say the word and we’ll go back. Your life is more important to me than finding Persephone.”

The genuineness in the older girl’s voice made Seulgi’s heart melt just a little bit more. Joohyun really _had_ matured as a leader over the course of their journey and it was a beautiful sight to witness.

“Positive.”

The daughter of Hades nodded.

“Okay then. That matter is settled, Seulgi is coming with us whether the rest of you like it or not.” She met everyone’s eyes individually, almost daring them to argue with her. No one did.

Seemingly satisfied with the decision, the Labyrinth rumbled and a section of rock next to the murals crumbled away to reveal a rough-hewn entrance, beyond which they could see another passage lined with torches. It was clear that wherever the path lead there was no going back. Procyon whined and tugged Sooyoung towards the opening, cementing their suspicions. Persephone was just down that passage.

“Guess we’ve reached the end of the line, ladies. Who wants to take a guess as to what’s behind door number one?”

XXX

They walked into a large cavern. Pristine stalagmites and stalactites jutted up from the cave floor and down from the ceiling. A huge pool of water sat in the middle of the room, the water reflecting an image of the woods around Camp Half-Blood on its surface. The atmosphere of the cave was humid and stuffy, smelling faintly of blood and something sweet that Seulgi couldn’t quite place.

“This is it. This is the cave from my dreams.”

“Looks like we came here at a good time,” Seungwan commented, leaning down to examine a pile of humanoid bones that were riddled with teeth marks. “Doesn’t look like anyone’s home.”

“Except for a goddess,” Yeri breathed, and four pairs of eyes snapped to where she was pointing.

Shackled to the far wall and barely breathing was the woman Seulgi had seen in her dreams. Persephone. The goddess’ light was noticeably dimmer than it was when Seulgi had been in her mind, and her body was wreathed in a multitude of scars and bite marks. Some of them looked mostly healed but others were fresh and still trickling golden ichor. A black blindfold had been tied around her eyes, under which more golden ichor dripped.

Surrounding the goddess were four smaller cages, in which Seulgi could see the bodies of her four siblings, Solar, Hoseok, Jihyo and Somi. She couldn’t tell from this distance but she could only pray that they were still alive.

“Who’s there?” Persephone’s voice was hoarse.

Joohyun stepped forward, carefully picking her way past the skeletons and approaching the weakened goddess.

“It’s me, Mom.”

“Joohyun? How—” Persephone lifted her head up, and despite the blindfold, Seulgi could feel the goddess staring at her directly. “—You. You shouldn’t be here. She’s looking for you.”

“Told you,” Seungwan muttered under her breath. Seulgi shot her an exasperated look.

Joohyun gently untied the blindfold around Persephone’s eyes, unable to stop the small gasp that escaped when she noticed the goddess’ eyes had been completely mangled. “What--?”

“I’ll heal,” Persephone assured her. “What matters is that you five need to get out of here before She comes back.”

Seulgi had the sinking feeling that she knew why Nyx had effectively blinded Persephone. Had she known that Seulgi had walked in the goddess’ dreams that one night and mangled her eyes so it wouldn’t happen again?

“First things first, we need to get Seulgi’s siblings out of those cages.” Joohyun’s voice had taken on the same tone it had when Seulgi played capture the flag with her. Strong and powerful. And incredibly attractive. “Yeri, do you mind?”

The maknae shook her head and walked over to the first cage. Solar’s body leaned against the far side of the metal bars.

“Not at all. Seungwan-unnie I’ve got these two, can you free Jihyo-unnie and Hoseok-oppa?” Yeri tossed her spare lockpicking tools to Seungwan and continued working with the locks on the cages. “You’re the only other one here with experience.”

“On it.” Together the two of them worked quickly and freed Seulgi’s siblings. They were in pretty bad shape. Whatever Nyx had done to them had left them so incapacitated that they barely noticed Yeri and Seungwan breaking in and untying their chains. If it weren’t for the steady rise and fall of their chests Seulgi would have thought the worst.

And it was all because of her. This shouldn’t have happened to them.

It was as if Joohyun could read her mind because a smaller hand slipped into hers and the daughter of Hades said, “Hey, no. This isn’t your fault. This is all on Nyx.”

“Joohyun they could have _died_ because of me. What if we hadn’t found them?”

“Don’t think like that,” Joohyun scolded her. “Look, Seungwan’s healing them, they’re going to be fine.”

Sure enough, when Seulgi looked up, Seungwan was busy pulling squares of ambrosia and little pouches of nectar out of her backpack and handing them out to Yeri and Sooyoung. Together the three of them saw to the Apollo quartet. It was tense for a few moments but as soon as Somi started coughing and swearing softly under her breath Seulgi knew things would be okay.

“Thank the gods,” she muttered. “We can’t forget about Persephone though,” Seulgi called out to their youngest and pointed to the chains binding Persephone. “Yeri, how about these chains, can you try and unlock them?”

“I mean sure, but those are Prometheus’ chains. You know the ones that Zeus used to chain Prometheus to a rock as punishment for giving humanity fire?” She looked around at everyone’s blank expressions. “Really? You guys made me study this crap for months before I came to camp and you can’t even remember this?”

“They’re unbreakable,” Persephone interrupted, perhaps sensing that Yeri was about to start an argument. Her breaths were labored, as though the action of even speaking too quickly took energy out of her. “If Nyx hadn’t siphoned so much power from me and the others, I could have probably managed to break them but as it is, I’m afraid I’m not much help.”

“Why has Nyx been siphoning your power?” Sooyoung asked. “Like no offense, but isn’t she stronger than all of you?”

“Sooyoung!” Joohyun hissed. Persephone might have been weak but she was _still_ a goddess.

“No, she’s right,” Persephone chuckled weakly. “Even Zeus treads carefully around her. But a good portion of her power doesn’t come from her directly, it comes from her scepter. I presume you know about it by now?”

“We saw the old version of Seulgi wielding it against Nyx back in the Labyrinth,” Seungwan added.

“Her scepter is one of the only artifacts powerful enough to threaten her. After she tried and failed to reclaim it, we decided it would be best to split the scepter into four pieces. One each to the Elder Gods and the last to the Dawnbreaker. They were meant to hide the shards and swear on the River Styx to never reveal the location to anyone.”

“So what happened?”

“One of them broke his oath.” Persephone said. “And let’s just say it wasn’t the Dawnbreaker.” 

“What about the consequences?” Yeri asked, looking confused.

“Please, the Elder Gods break vows on the River Styx all the time,” Sooyoung snorted, gesturing to Joohyun. “Small dark and broody over there is living proof. Who’s gonna hold them to their vows, it’s not like anyone can challenge them.”

“A true enough statement,” Persephone continued. “But to return to your original question, being imprisoned in Tartarus for centuries has made Nyx weak. She needs as much power as she can get in order to perform a scrying spell strong enough for her to reveal the location of the four shards.”

Seungwan looked up, clearly interested in Persephone’s tale. “You mean like a magical homing beacon?”

“Of a sort. The ritual itself will only allow her to find one shard, but she can then use that fragment to find the others.”

“So how do we stop it?” This time it was Yeri who spoke.

“I do not think you can,” Persephone admitted. “I can only hazard a guess as to how much power she has taken from me and the Apollo children. The only thing you can do is leave me and report this turn to Zeus up on Mount Olympus.”

“Yeah, like that’ll work, they’ve locked themselves up there,” Sooyoung said. “Do you really think Zeus will break conclave for five teenagers?”

“Take my necklace then,” Persephone said, reaching up to yank the iron necklace from her neck and handing it to Joohyun. The metal hissed as it touched Joohyun’s skin but the daughter of Hades appeared to be unbothered. “Be careful with it Joohyun, you and I are both well aware of the effects Stygian Iron has on mortals. But this should be enough to convince them of your legitimacy.”

Lips pursed, Joohyun pocketed Persephone’s necklace and turned to Seungwan. “Are Seulgi’s siblings well enough to walk? We need to get out of here.”

“Go without us,” Solar said weakly, standing up and swaying on her feet. Seungwan’s arm reached out to steady her. “We’d only slow you down. What’s important is you relaying this to Zeus and the other gods.”

“But what about—” Seulgi protested. The last thing she wanted was to leave her siblings behind again.

“—No buts Seulgi,” the head counselor replied. “Everyone’s got their part to play.”

 _Look what we have here. Like moths to a flame, the Dawnbreaker comes to me._ A high, cold voice echoed in Seulgi’s head. And judging by the similarly startled looks on everyone’s faces, they’d heard it too.

Darkness swirled around them and began forming a barrier around the entrance they’d come in, effectively trapping them inside the massive cavern. With that done, the barrier began to expand even further, pushing the five girls back to the wall and cornering them.

Joohyun turned to Sooyoung and an unspoken thought passed between the two of them. The daughter of Ares poked at the smoky barrier with the tip of her spear and was met with a hard resistance. She shook her head.

“She’s here, you have to run! You cannot hope to face her as she is!” Persephone lunged forward, thrashing wildly against the chains that bound her but weak as she was the goddess was unable to break free.

Black tendrils shot out of the impenetrable barrier and grabbed Joohyun by the waist, dragging her into the shadows. All Seulgi could do was stare in abject horror as her girlfriend? (had they even talked about that yet?) disappeared into the darkness. 

“Joohyun, no!”

XXX

Joohyun had always felt a strange sort of comfort whenever she was surrounded by darkness. But this? There was something innately different about the shadowy barrier Nyx had put up that had the hairs on the back of her neck stick up. This darkness wouldn’t heed her commands.

_All alone without your Light…_

Joohyun whirled around, trying in vain to pinpoint the location of the voice but unable to see anything in the stifling cloud of dark magic.

“I won’t let you hurt her.” Joohyun hoped Nyx wouldn’t be able to hear the tremor in her voice. Dawnbreaker or not, Seulgi was _hers._

A low laugh came from everywhere and nowhere at once.

_And who are you to stop me?_

The darkness cleared for a brief moment and allowed Joohyun to catch her first glimpse of the primordial goddess.

The centuries locked away in Tartarus had not done much for Nyx. Her very form seemed to be as unstable as the shadows that surrounded her, flickering in and out of existence if Joohyun looked at her for too long. The goddess’ ebony robes fit snugly to her body and billowed out in a circle around her, underneath which Joohyun could hear a familiar clacking sound. She had the feeling Nyx was the one behind the strange shadow creatures that had been swarming Camp Half-Blood but this confirmed it.

But even without a truly corporeal form Joohyun knew she was an incredibly dangerous foe.

Which made it all the more surprising when Nyx’s next words were, _I see potential in you. You know you could join me, daughter of darkness._ _Together we’d be unstoppable. Your Light would come to no harm._

Was she suddenly being offered an alliance? Joohyun glared at Nyx suspiciously. There was clearly something the primordial goddess was not telling her. Not that she was surprised in the slightest by that.

Joohyun wouldn’t allow herself to be swayed by the goddess’ honeyed words. She had long since become used to the empty promises that fell out of the mouths of the gods. She stuck fast to her thoughts of Seulgi, Seungwan, Sooyoung and Yeri. Her girls.

“Never.” Nyx didn’t seem to like that answer very much. The darkness began to bear down on her, the pressure squeezing the very air out of her lungs and causing her to gasp for breath. Joohyun tried to suppress the panic that rose in her chest.

_Then perish._

Joohyun sank to her knees in defeat, as Nyx’s magic continued to choke her. There was just no way she could defeat Nyx alone. Her own shadow magic swirled around her small form, inching slowly towards the goddess’ encroaching abyss, trying to hold it back for as long as possible. Even broken like this she couldn’t let Nyx get away with her plan. Even if she died in the process.

Nyx couldn’t be allowed to finish her scrying ritual. The scepter had to stay safe.

Taking one last labored breath, Joohyun steeled herself as Nyx drew even closer. Nobody else needed to get hurt. The goddess hissed, empty black eyes honing in on the daughter of Hades. What looked like a twisted grin spread across her face.

_And so falls the daughter of darkness. Foolish little demigod. But don’t be afraid. Your friends will soon join you._

Black tendrils wrapped around Joohyun’s ankles, snuffing out her innate shadow magic and beginning to absorb her very being. In that moment she could feel the sheer hatred that drove Nyx to madness, the desire for vengeance on all the gods for her imprisonment. She who had birthed the world, reduced to nothing but an insignificant little ant, subservient to the gods and their machinations. She _would_ claim victory this time around.

Joohyun tried to fight it, and she lashed out with what remained of her powers. Shadow battled against shadow and Joohyun gritted her teeth with effort. Nyx would win, she knew that. But she’d be _damned_ if she died without fighting.

If only Joohyun could see Seulgi’s face one more time, to tell her what she had been afraid to. The daughter of Apollo had burned her way past Joohyun’s heart and now she wouldn’t even get to say goodbye. What she wouldn’t give to speak to her before—

“Get your grubby tentacle-hands away from her.”

XXX

Joohyun couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Light assaulted her vision and broke through the previously impenetrable cloud of nothingness. A single silhouette stood against the abyss, shining brighter than a thousand suns.

Kang Seulgi’s body glowed with an ethereal power; her eyes completely consumed by golden light. She walked towards Nyx, her footsteps burning the ground around her and melting the darkness. As she drew closer to Joohyun a familiar golden tether shimmered into existence, connecting them.

Joohyun gasped as light suffused her body, chasing away the Aspect’s magic and freeing her from its grasp. She stumbled to her feet, still weak but with every passing second she could feel herself getting stronger. Seulgi reached out her hand to the daughter of Hades.

“When are you going to learn that you can’t get rid of me so easily?”

A shadowy tether entwined with the golden one, strengthening their bond. Two souls, one connection. A familiar whisper began building in the back of Joohyun’s head. _Solace will come with the break of dawn._

Nyx drew back from Seulgi’s light, hissing with displeasure. The abyss that swirled around her form shot out, heading straight for the pair of demigods.

“Seulgi watch out!” Joohyun tried to place herself in-between Seulgi and the incoming attack, calling for her shadows to protect them.

The blow never came though.

There was a loud, angry roar and a missile of fiery energy broke through the wall of darkness, intercepting the attack. The smoke cleared to reveal one very pissed off Sooyoung, who was clutching her spear and glaring angrily at Nyx.

Standing on one side, Seungwan nocked an arrow, smiling cockily at the goddess. Yeri was on the other side, wearing a worn-out black baseball cap. The blonde maknae drew her dual daggers.

“You guys came for me,” Joohyun breathed.

“Yeah no shit, Sherlock,” Sooyoung growled, her smoldering red eyes trained on Nyx. “It’s five or nothing.”

“Sooyoung’s right. Together we stand, together we fall, all that jazz. You’re stuck with us, Joohyun.” Seungwan turned back to wink suggestively at the daughter of Hades.

“And I don’t know about you unnie, but I’m dying to try out this hat your dad gave me,” Yeri sounded excited.

Nyx let out a furious bellow, the abyss growing even stronger. Joohyun knew she would lose in a one-on-one fight with the furious goddess, but with her friends by her side?

The daughter of Hades whistled sharply and called her hellhounds to the battlefield. Kimchi appeared by her side instantly, snarling at Nyx and stepping protectively in front of his master. Tofu entered the battlefield next to Seulgi, nudging the daughter of Apollo with his massive head.

Everyone was here. Now the battle could truly begin.

 _It matters not! I WILL find my scepter!_

Joohyun drew her axe, its familiar weight settling in her hands and comforting her. Shifting her weapon to her left hand, her right reached for Seulgi’s. The other girl’s voice sounded in her head.

_Together?_

_Together._

Nyx’s robes swirled and a dozen of her shadow creatures popped into existence. She roared a challenge and charged for the five demigods, her minions clacking along at her heels. 

“All right ladies!” Joohyun raised her voice, slinging her axe over her shoulder. “Let’s send this bitch back to Tartarus.”

A mischievous smile appeared on Yeri’s face and she gasped, feigning offense. “Unnie! Language!”


	16. In Which Kim Yerim Saves The World

The shadow creatures reached their party first. And unlike the ones they’d encountered back at camp this particular group was _much_ better organized.

The familiar loud clicking sound filled the cavern as the creatures rushed past Nyx, their claws snapping in a synchronized rhythm. No longer were they stilted puppets, with their master in such close proximity they no longer had any handicaps. 

Joohyun was calm though. “Tofu, Kimchi. Take care of these things for us.”

Her hellhounds howled and tore past them to meet the creatures head on. The first clash happened almost in slow motion as Kimchi barreled right over the first unfortunate minion and immediately lunged for a second, his lips pulled back in a snarl as he snapped his teeth around its body, cleaving it in two. The two halves of the body hit the cave floor and disappeared in a puff of darkness. Tofu followed his brother’s example and caught a third creature with his claws, slamming it to the ground with enough force to pulverize it into another shower of dark particles.

Seulgi knew that Nyx’s monsters were little more than shells of darkness, incapable of feelings or even pain. But even so, the clicking got louder and more frantic, as if the creatures were angered by the death of their comrade. The remaining nine creatures drew back out of the range of the massive hellhounds. They were learning. And that scared Seulgi.

But Joohyun’s companions had done their job. Nyx’s minions were now focused solely on them, which leveled the playing field a bit.

_Good. I would hate for this to end so quickly._

Nyx didn’t seem at all fazed by this turn of events, the shadows swirling around her feet coalescing into two thick tendrils of darkness that whipped around her body and lashed out at Joohyun and Seulgi.

“Heads up, you two, here she comes!” Seungwan warned.

Joohyun was ready though, and the daughter of Hades effortlessly blocked the blow, using the tendrils’ momentum against them to parry one of them to the side before switching her grip on her axe to duck under the second as it glanced off the axe head, the tendril flying past Seulgi’s head and lodging into the cave wall behind them. With one clean blow, Joohyun stood tall and severed the second tendril as it struggled to free itself. Seulgi watched as, like the shadow creatures, the tendril hit the cave floor and writhed once, twice before dissolving.

Nyx screamed that time, a maddening tone that made Seulgi wince in displeasure. Whatever Nyx had become down in Tartarus had slowly stripped the once proud primordial goddess of every last shred of her divinity. By now Tofu and Kimchi had dispatched of her remaining minions and had rallied back to their master’s side. Seulgi couldn’t help but notice in the moment though that Tofu had trotted back to stand not next to Joohyun but to her. She looked up at him and met his gaze, a single understanding passing between them: _We will protect her together._

Seulgi’s focus snapped back to Nyx as the goddess roared, another much larger wave of creatures spawning from just beyond the wall of darkness. The clicking returned with at least twice the intensity as more of them spilled into view.

She realized Nyx’s plan too late.

The creatures pressed in from all sides, slowly but surely separating the five of them. Nyx’s smirk said it all. They knew they’d never win alone. She had to find the others in this sea of shadows. 

_What will I do with your corpses?_ Nyx sang almost cheerfully as they were forced apart from each other. Seulgi was momentarily distracted and that was enough for one of the creatures to send her sprawling. The golden aura around her body flickered as her concentration was interrupted, pain ripping through her as the creature sliced through the protective leather armor on her lower leg.

She kicked wildly at the creature, feeling warm blood spill down her leg and into her boot. She reached for her own dagger to dispatch of the thing once and for all before more of its friends took advantage of her position—but before she could strike, Yeri came dashing into her field of vision from out of nowhere, the younger girl stabbing the creature still attached to Seulgi’s leg and returning it to the shadows.

“Are you okay, unnie?” she asked, easily batting away more of the creatures with her weapons. Seulgi nodded, gritting her teeth as she got to her feet. There would be time to process her pain later.

“Where did you even--?” Seulgi said. She hadn’t even seen their maknae approaching.

Yeri pointed at the baseball cap she was wearing. “I think this thing makes me turn invisible, as soon as Nyx’s creatures started swarming us I noticed they completely ignored me. How cool is that?”

She bounced on the balls of her feet, clearly excited and not at all concerned about the imminent danger surrounding them. Seulgi could only wish she shared the blonde’s sentiment. “So cool. Listen Yeri, I’m fine now I need you to go find the others and clear a path back to me. Nyx knows we’re stronger together, we can’t let her drive us apart.”

Yeri nodded seriously, tipping her cap in Seulgi’s direction before melting into her surroundings and walking right past a group of Nyx’s minions. The daughter of Apollo couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief as she reignited her Dawnbreaker aura. She still didn’t quite know how to control most of her power but at least she’d figured out how to turn it on and off…maybe there was hope for them yet.

Twenty minutes later though and Seulgi was beginning to lose a little bit of that hope. She didn’t know how many of the creatures she’d slain but whenever she dusted one another took its place. Yeri hadn’t returned yet and she was starting to get worried. Even Nyx had retreated to watch them fight endlessly against her minions. Out of everything, _that_ irked Seulgi the most. The goddess couldn’t even be bothered to fight them again herself.

Suddenly there was an explosion to her right and a half-dozen of Nyx’s creatures were blown backwards, allowing her a glimpse of Sooyoung, who had detonated the magic in her spear to clear a small circle around her. Nyx took notice and sent a pair of her tendrils shooting after the daughter of Ares.

Sooyoung’s back was to Seulgi and the daughter of Apollo opened her mouth to warn her of the incoming tendrils.

It turned out she had nothing to worry about.

Red eyes glinting in the darkness, Sooyoung turned around to see the tendrils flying towards her face. She smirked, dropping her spear and reaching into her pocket to pull out what looked like a tiny portable bottle of pepper spray. Which then turned into the small machine gun Seulgi had seen when she had first met the daughter of Ares. Sooyoung’s weapon trilled as a hail of bullets ripped into the tendrils, shredding them to pieces. A few of the celestial bronze bullets even flew past them, striking Nyx in the shoulder. Thick, black blood poured down the goddess’ arm.

The creatures stopped swarming, and as one they turned around and instead of charging for the girls they charged at Nyx. Seulgi made sure to take a note of that, it seemed like Nyx also had to maintain a certain level of concentration on her creatures in order to exert her will on them. Which meant that if they could break her concentration…

Nyx howled as the shadow creatures leapt for her, their claws stabbing into her body like they were trying to dig out more of her blood.

With the creatures gone, Seulgi was finally able to see the others again. Joohyun and Seungwan had managed to find each other in the chaos and while the two of them looked tired and sported a few scratches here and there they looked otherwise unharmed. Yeri shimmered back into view next to them. Good. All of her girls were safe.

Joohyun seemed to have noticed the same thing Seulgi did, and she called out to Sooyoung. “Joy!”

Seulgi saw Sooyoung stow away her machine gun and pick up her spear, flipping cleanly over a pile of creatures as they swarmed Nyx to drive her spear deep into the goddess’ stomach. Nyx roared in anger, using her uninjured arm to yank the spear out of her torso and toss it to the side before backhanding Sooyoung and sending the daughter of Ares flying.

“Sooyoung!” Seulgi didn’t know which one of them yelled that. She made to rush to her friend’s aid but her mangled leg buckled beneath her. Yeri sprinted past Seungwan and Joohyun to attend to Sooyoung, who struggled to her feet, clearly injured but still willing to fight.

That was it. Seulgi was all too familiar with the bubble of rage and fear that boiled in her stomach. She’d felt it when Joohyun got launched by the Hydra and she was feeling it again now. The desperate desire to _protect_ her family. The aura around her feet flared brightly and a rush of power surged through her veins.

She reached out towards Joohyun and the others, the older girl yelping in surprise when her axe flew out of her hand and into Seulgi’s waiting grasp. Like before the metal hissed against her skin but Seulgi didn’t feel any pain.

“Seungwan, find me a weak point,” she said, lifting Joohyun’s weapon experimentally and testing its balance. She had no experience with two-handed weapons like this but for whatever reason her body seemed to know exactly what to do.

Then she charged.

XXX

“Find me a weak point,” Seungwan mimicked the daughter of Apollo under her breath as the other girl clashed with Nyx, who had just finished beating back the last of her wayward creatures. Whatever she’d done to them, it didn’t look like they’d be coming back. “You know it’s not that easy, right?”

“She stole my axe…” Joohyun pouted, but still looking on at the fight before them with pride on her face.

“Well then, I guess there isn’t much to do now except do what Seulgi’s asked,” Sooyoung said weakly, clearly on her last legs energy-wise. She tried to summon another berserker rage, and her eyes glowed red for a brief second before fading back into their usual warm brown. The poor girl had been raging so frequently, it wasn’t a surprise that her body finally told her enough was enough. Seungwan made a mental note to make sure to lock the daughter of Ares in the infirmary back at camp should they make it out of there alive. “How do we do get this done?”

Everyone turned to look at Seungwan.

“Hey, don’t look at me, I’ve known about my godly heritage now for less than a week. The only reason I knew about the Chimera’s weak spot was thanks to a class I took on monsters back at the camp. They don’t exactly tell us how to find a god’s weak points, I’m pretty sure that’s not an approved topic.”

“Everyone’s got one, even gods,” Yeri pointed out, turning to look at Joohyun. “You taught me that, unnie. Even someone like Achilles, who bathed in the river Styx, had a weak point. It’s impossible to be completely infallible.”

“Yeri’s right,” Joohyun nodded. “Artemis is literally the goddess of the Hunt, if anyone would know how to find Nyx’s weak spot it’s you.”

“I don’t know how to do that though!” Seungwan huffed angrily, sheathing her weapons and stamping her feet in frustration. She knew that she needed to get find a vulnerable spot for Seulgi, the daughter of Apollo was counting on her. Hell, the entire _world_ was counting on her.

The pressure was too much. She felt her heart tighten like a vise in her chest and her breathing started to get labored. She wanted more than anything to succeed but how could she if it had taken her even this long for her mother to see her as worthy?

Joohyun approached her, sensing her fear and putting a calming hand on her shoulder. She turned Seungwan around to face Nyx and Seulgi as they fought. “Just breathe for me. Think of it like focusing your sights on a target before you shoot an arrow. Tune out everything around you and just _focus_ on Nyx only. Hone in on her movements.”

Seungwan inhaled deeply, closing her eyes and following Joohyun’s instructions and calling up the familiar feeling of aiming down the length of her faithful bow. She blocked out the sounds of battle around her, even forcing herself to ignore the sound of Joohyun breathing next to her.

A feminine voice rang in her head.

_Take aim, my daughter. And be the one to write your own fate._

The world around her slowed down to a crawl as she opened her eyes. Next to her, completely frozen in time and with her hand still on Seungwan’s shoulder was Joohyun. Sooyoung and Yeri were in a similar state. She looked over at Nyx and Seulgi. The light and shadows around them both still swirled at a normal speed but their movements were heavily slowed.

She observed Nyx as the goddess took a swipe at Seulgi, which the other girl blocked at the last possible second, sparks flying as Joohyun’s axe made contact with Nyx’s smoky skin.

Seungwan took one step forward, and then another. Time remained slow. She knew whatever ability she was tapping into wouldn’t last for long. And she knew that she wouldn’t be the one to strike the final blow. That honor would never belong to her.

Nyx’s robes moved slightly and the tiniest glint of purple caught her eye among the black shadows around Nyx. It happened so quickly even in this strange space/time state that she almost missed it. Narrowing her eyes she focused on the spot she’d seen.

There, etched into the goddess’ skin where her throat met her collarbone. What appeared to be a rune that pulsed with an eerie purple light. Nyx shifted again and the spot disappeared underneath her robes. Seungwan smiled. Joohyun was right, as per usual. She _could_ do it.

“Thanks, Mom.”

She exhaled, letting go of the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding and the world around her unfroze. Seungwan found herself back where she started, the warm weight of Joohyun’s hand still on her shoulder.

“I got it, Joohyun. I think we’ve got a chance.” 

XXX

Seulgi knew that Joohyun would probably rip her a new one if she started swearing out loud with Yeri standing only a few dozen feet away. Ever since the daughter of Hades had begun taking her job as leader seriously she’d wanted to set a good example for their youngest. Which meant no more swearing. The last thing Seulgi wanted to do was burst Joohyun’s bubble, especially now that they’d moved past being enemies to being, was girlfriends really the right word? Seulgi made a note to make it official with Joohyun if they lived.

Never mind the fact that she was pretty sure Yeri swore more than the rest of them combined. If Joohyun said to watch her language she would. But swearing in her thoughts wasn’t a crime, thank the gods. Because _fuck_ , was Nyx a strong adversary.

Their first clash had Seulgi bringing Joohyun’s axe up to block the unarmed strike, a single pure note sounding through the cavern as Stygian Iron met abyss.

The two of them danced together for what felt like hours but in reality was probably only a few minutes, both darkness and light swirling around their joined forms. Seulgi could feel her power beginning to wane though, Dawnbreaker or not she _was_ mortal, unlike Nyx. The damn goddess wasn’t even at her full strength and she shuddered to think at what a fully-powered Nyx would be like in battle. At this point she was facing nothing more than a fraction of the primordial goddess.

 _You can’t last, little Light._ Nyx taunted her as they met again. This time Nyx almost succeeded in breaking past her guard. Seulgi steeled herself for another blow as Nyx wound up for another unarmed strike.

There was a sharp crack that echoed through the cavern, causing Seulgi to look down at Joohyun’s axe. The sheer power of Nyx’s swipe had caused the handle of the Stygian Iron axe to fracture. To her surprise though, there seemed to be something shiny buried in the metal. So that’s how she’d been able to hold off Nyx’s attacks…

 _Honestly, that wasn’t the stupidest idea of his_ , Seulgi thought as she gazed at the shard of Nyx’s scepter that Hades had hidden in his daughter’s prized weapon.

Nyx noticed it too, her expression morphing from surprise to realization.

 _THE SCEPTER!!!_ The shadows around Nyx formed into tendrils once again as the goddess tried to tear the axe out of Seulgi’s grip.

They tussled over the weapon for a few agonizing seconds, neither one gaining the upper hand until it flew out of both of their hands to clatter onto the cave floor between them. Seulgi gasped. The game had changed. She knew she couldn’t let Nyx get her hands on that shard.

Gathering what remained of her energy into the palms of her hands, as Nyx disengaged from the fight to rush for the axe she blasted the goddess with a beam of concentrated light from her hands, causing the axe to skid further out of reach of them both before physically grabbing onto Nyx and forcing her to focus on her instead.

Gods, she hoped Seungwan had found Nyx’s weak spot. Now that the shard was in play the only thing that would stop this fight was if they could defeat Nyx. Any other outcome would end in all their deaths. 

“Do it!” Seulgi yelled to nobody in particular, using both her hands to shoot another concentrated beam of light at Nyx. They had one shot at this. “Whatever you’re planning, do it now!”

Seungwan let an arrow loose. It flew through the air and sank into Nyx’s already injured shoulder, sending a spray of black blood rushing down her arm. She staggered back from the force of the shot, her robes billowing, the movement momentarily revealing the spot Seungwan had noticed earlier. The source of the primordial goddess’ power on Earth. A single purple rune etched into the skin where Nyx’s throat met her collarbone that pulsed with the power she’d stolen from Persephone and Seulgi’s siblings. 

“Yeri,” Seungwan whispered. She knew their maknae was the only one quick enough to have seen the same thing she did. It would be up to Kim Yerim to save them all.

Wordlessly, Yeri dashed forward, tipping her hat and disappearing before everyone’s eyes.

Seulgi couldn’t hold on to her power much longer. Nyx wasn’t even at her full strength and it still took every ounce of her energy to even hold back the enraged goddess. Now that she’d seen the shard of the scepter that lay inside the handle of Joohyun’s axe she’d gathered up all of her power to try and break past Seulgi to get to the weapon that lay a few feet behind her.

_Please, Dad. Please give me the strength to hold out for a little bit longer._

_You weaken, little Light. I WILL win, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me._

Seulgi felt the barest breeze of movement next to her, a familiar energy that made her smile despite the seriousness of the situation. She was never alone.

“You’re right, I can’t stop you.”

“I can though.”

Nyx gasped, hands reaching for her throat as a scream died in her mouth. The tip of a single celestial bronze dagger blade jutted through her throat, piercing right through the purple rune.

There was a moment where the three of them simply stood; Yeri shimmering into view behind Nyx, shoving her dagger into the goddess’ throat, while Seulgi’s Dawnbreaker aura finally fizzled out, having been completely spent. Nyx’s hands scrabbled to pull the blade from her throat but failed, as the pent-up power she’d been storing suddenly burst from her body in a wave of purple light.

The wall of darkness around them began to dissipate. Without the power she’d stolen, Nyx was little more than a non-corporeal spirit. Her smoky figure began to fade as well, her robes piling onto the cave floor.

_You have won the battle but not the war. I will be…_

Nyx’s final words faded into the shadows, much like her body. 

“Is it over?” Yeri asked, wiping the black blood from her dagger on the hem of her shirt. All that remained of the primordial goddess were her robes.

“Yeah.” Seulgi breathed, meeting Joohyun’s eyes as the daughter of Hades stepped over her axe to rush into her arms. She embraced the daughter of Hades, a single tear rolling down her cheek. “It’s over. We did it.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not over. We've got an epilogue to get through still, and even then. This world is getting bigger and bigger. I'm sure a few people have noticed that no one died during the fight with Nyx. We're moving into a second arc, with the spotlight shining on a different group, so stay tuned!


	17. Epilogue: In Which Kang Seulgi's Fight Is Just Beginning

**THREE WEEKS LATER**

This dream wasn’t nearly as clear as some of the others she’d had. All she could see was the blurry outline of a group of girls, the image was so murky that she couldn’t even tell how many of them there were. One moment she saw four, then five, seven and nine.

In fact, the only clear thing she saw were the symbols etched above three of their heads: a golden sun, a black skull and a red boar. The symbols above the heads of the other girls were blurry, as if the dream itself was telling Seulgi that she wasn’t allowed to see that far into the future. Confused by this, Seulgi stared at the black skull symbol, briefly wondering if this dream was meant to warn her that Joohyun would become the center of whatever fresh hell came for them next. Before her defeat, Nyx had promised that this war was only just beginning. Seulgi could only hope that wasn’t the case.

A wave of ominous purple light began creeping towards the girl with the skull symbol above her head. Seulgi reached out to her with an outstretched hand, to try and warn her of the incoming danger but like all her other dreams she was simply a witness, unable to change or influence her surroundings. The last thing Seulgi heard before the dream faded was that familiar raspy gasp that never failed to send shivers down her spine.

_Oh little Light, this fight is far from over._

Seulgi bolted upright in bed, Nyx’s whisper still in the back of her mind. It took a moment for her to calm herself and to remind herself of her surroundings. _I’m back at camp, I’m safe, Nyx is gone…_ she repeated that mantra several times under her breath until she felt Joohyun move under the covers.

Joohyun.

She looked over at her girlfriend’s sleeping form and felt herself calming down even more. Ever since they’d returned to camp Seulgi had found herself plagued with nightmares about Nyx, and the only thing that seemed to keep the dreams at bay was sleeping next to Joohyun. There was probably some tether-related reason for it but she didn’t want to look too deeply into it. What mattered was that being next to the daughter of Hades did wonders for her.

“…Seul?” Joohyun’s voice was husky with sleep as she rolled over and saw Seulgi sitting upright in bed. She reached out to hold onto one of Seulgi’s hands. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good, go back to sleep,” Seulgi whispered, pressing a soft kiss to Joohyun’s knuckles to ease the older girls’ worries.

“You say that all the time,” Joohyun snorted, sitting up in bed and stretching like a cat. The two of them had started sleeping in Joohyun’s cabin most nights, which Seulgi enjoyed. Not that it wasn’t great sleeping in the Apollo cabin with her siblings, but after having been an only child for most of her life she greatly preferred the peace and quiet the Hades cabin brought her.

As soon as they’d returned to camp the counselors all banded together to throw a massive party in the Apollo cabin to celebrate the return of the once missing campers. The only reason they’d managed to get away with it was because Solar, Hobi, Jihyo and Somi were still recovering in the infirmary after their ordeal. 

The party had lasted for the better part of three days and Seulgi _still_ thought the cabin smelled too much like the fruity drinks the Dionysus kids had brought. Her siblings were incredible, but by the gods were they loud. 

“This is only the beginning, Hyun.” Seulgi said worriedly. They’d barely managed to down Nyx and the goddess was only at a fraction of her true power. She shuddered to think of what a completely powered-up and corporeal Nyx would be like.

“I know. But we’ll get through it together.”

Seulgi smiled in the darkness, comforted by Joohyun’s words. She was right, as usual. Their fight was just beginning but for right now? In this moment? All that mattered was that they were together.

“Thanks, Joohyun.”

The daughter of Hades chuckled softly, rubbing circles on Seulgi’s lower back before laying back down in bed. “Always. Hopefully the world can keep its shit together for at least a few weeks though, I’m still exhausted. Now shut up and go back to sleep, we have combat practice in a few hours.”

“Yes ma’am.”

XXX

As Seulgi drew closer and closer to the Big House the following morning she could sense an incredibly powerful aura coming from within. She knew by now that something that powerful could only belong to one thing: a god. And looking over at the worried gaze on Joohyun’s face she knew the older girl had felt it too.

The five of them pushed open the doors to the Big House and greeted some of the cats that called the place home before walking into the parlor.

Hades, God of the Underworld stood in the middle of the room, clearly waiting for them. He looked a lot better than the last time they’d met, leading Seulgi to believe that whatever hold Nyx had on the god had faded with her defeat.

“Joohyun.” Hades spoke first.

“Dad.” Things still seemed to be a little awkward between Hades and his daughter but in light of the recent battle it seemed that Joohyun was willing to work past her problems with her father. At least for the moment.

“I wanted to talk with you before the others get here.” Next to Joohyun, Seulgi saw Seungwan mouth ‘others?’ to Sooyoung and Yeri.

“Is this about the shard?” Joohyun asked, summoning her axe and holding the broken weapon carefully in her hands.

“Yes and no,” Hades replied, reaching out to take his daughter’s weapon. She reluctantly loosened her grasp and let him take it. Seulgi could still see the glint of the shard lying in the axe’s handle, wondering how such a tiny fragment was able to stave off Nyx’s power. “We are all in agreement that you should keep it, for now.”

“Is that wise?” Joohyun said skeptically.

“Nyx _will_ return, make no mistake. But for now she has been defeated. My siblings and I will be keeping watch over the other shards and we think that this piece will be safer in close proximity to the Dawnbreaker.”

He waved his hands over the broken weapon and Seulgi watched in amazement as Hades effortlessly repaired the axe handle. The only sign that it had ever been broken was a vein of white Stygian Iron that had been etched in the metal over where the shard was located. Hades handed the weapon back to Joohyun.

With that done, the atmosphere quickly turned awkward again.

“How is she?” Joohyun broke the silence.

“Persephone is recovering well,” Hades responded, moving to sit down on the couch and petting one of the cats that was perched on the armrest. Seulgi almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it, the literal god of the Underworld, sitting on a squashed old sofa and trailing his fingers down the back of a grumpy old tabby cat. “I shudder to think of the state she would have been in had you five not found her before Nyx completed her scrying ritual. Now, before the rest of my siblings get here, there’s something I need to do first.”

He beckoned Yeri forward with one hand, gesturing to the baseball cap she still wore on her head.

“As much as I know you’re loath to part with it Miss Kim, I _do_ need to ask for my hat back. It is rather important to me.”

Yeri pouted for a second and Seulgi knew that she would miss being able to turn invisible at the drop of a hat. Actually, now that she thought about it, Yeri was already a personification of chaos, the last thing she needed was the ability to go invisible.

Still, the daughter of Hermes nodded sadly and took off the baseball cap to hand it back to Hades. As it transferred from Yeri’s hands to Hades’, the cap shimmered and changed from a baseball cap to a mighty Greek battle helmet adorned with precious metals. Yeri froze.

“Wait, you’re telling me you lent me your _actual_ Helm of Darkness?”

Hades smiled for the first time and Seulgi immediately noticed how much he resembled his daughter. “I figured you would be able to make the most out of it. Still, as a token of my appreciation I’d like for you to have this.”

He waved his fingers and a silver chain necklace wound itself around Yeri’s neck. A silver skull pendant hung from the chain. “This is a much less potent version of my helm but should you figure out how to activate it, it will allow you to turn invisible for a brief period of time.”

Yeri’s eyes glittered as she held the pendant in her hand and Seulgi swore she could see the gears beginning to turn in the blonde’s head. “Whoa.”

Hades turned to Seulgi. “As for you, little Dawnbreaker. You’ve not only kept my daughter safe but managed to defeat Nyx before she could get her hands on the first scepter shard.

“I get the feeling that regardless of what I might say, my daughter has made her decision. She’s chosen you, Kang Seulgi, so I will stand by. But if you _ever_ break her heart—” Hades left the threat hanging, and a chill ran down Seulgi’s spine.

“—I hear you loud and clear, Lord Hades,” Seulgi stammered, feeling only marginally comforted when she felt Joohyun’s hand grabbing onto hers.

Luckily for her, the tense moment was broken by a flash of golden light coming from the front door of the Big House. Which was quickly followed by flashes of silver, red and mint. The light faded a moment later and four figures walked into the Big House. Seulgi didn’t even need to think about who they were, the names came unbidden to her thoughts as they walked into the parlor. It seemed so normal, Apollo walking in first, followed by his sister Artemis. Both of them hung their quivers from a nearby coatrack, while Ares stomped in in full combat gear, not even bothering to remove any of the weapons from his person. Hermes came in last, hanging his winged hat on top of the coatrack and gently leaning his caduceus against the wall.

“Ah, good you’re all here,” Hades stood up to address his siblings. “I know you’ve met Seungwan and Seulgi before, Hermes but I don’t think anyone else needs introductions, do they?”

“Pretty sure,” Yeri squeaked, looking up at her father with wide eyes. Hermes smiled down at his daughter and walked over to ruffle her hair affectionately. “Hi Dad.”

“Hey kiddo. Word has it you saved the day.”

Yeri’s smile could be seen from a thousand miles away. By now Seulgi had had enough interactions with the gods that things didn’t faze her anymore, but she imagined how special of a moment it must have been to finally meet her godly parent. Speaking of…

“You fought a Chimera _and_ a Hydra, I couldn’t be prouder of you, kid,” Ares slapped his daughter on the back with enough force to almost bring her to her knees. Even the usually unflappable Park Sooyoung was trying to hold back tears. Seulgi got the feeling that demigods didn’t usually get the opportunity to meet their parents.

She looked over to Seungwan, who had hesitantly approached Artemis. Mother and daughter stood a few feet apart for a few tense moments before Seungwan gave in and rushed into her mother’s arms. Artemis looked more than a little taken aback but quickly adjusted and wrapped her arms around Seungwan.

Which only left… “You’ve probably got a lot of questions for me, Seulgi.”

Seulgi looked at her father for the first time, committing to memory the way he looked. Apollo looked almost nothing like she had imagined, with shoulder length blonde hair and warm brown eyes. She must have gotten most of her genes from her mother and she briefly wondered how she had managed to fall in love with a man like Apollo. 

“Why are all of you here?” Joohyun asked carefully, and Seulgi nodded as well, the stream of questions she was dying to ask forgotten for the moment. She wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth but having all of their parents here practically screamed ‘suspicious’.

“We would like to honor the sacrifice you made in order to rescue Persephone,” Artemis replied. “It took an incredible amount of bravery to forge ahead with this difficult quest, much less come back successful.”

Apollo took over, “Therefore, we are in agreement that you may ask of us one boon and we will do all in our power to see it through.”

Seulgi’s mouth dropped open. She’d heard of things like this happening before but she never thought the gods would think of their deeds as worthy enough to deserve such a prize. Looking over at the other four she deduced they must have been thinking along the same lines.

They’d just been offered the world and, at least for Seulgi, she had no idea what to ask for.

“Can you give us a minute to talk it over?” Joohyun asked, as always the voice of reason among them.

The gathered gods nodded and walked into the hallway to give them the space they needed. As soon as the last one crossed the threshold, the four of them started talking over each other.

“What the Hades! They’re literally giving us the chance to ask anything of them, what do we ask for?” Seungwan looked panicked.

“I think Seungwan should be the one to ask for the boon,” Sooyoung said suddenly, and four pairs of eyes stared at her. The daughter of Ares shifted uncomfortably under the attention. “What? None of this would have been possible without her finding Nyx’s weak point.”

“I agree,” Yeri nodded seriously. “I wouldn’t have known where to strike the final blow without her. If anyone here should get to ask our parents for a boon it should be her.”

Everyone’s gazed shifted to Seungwan, who looked more than a little surprised. “You guys are willing to let _me_ pick?”

Joohyun shot her an encouraging smile. “We know you’ll make a good request. Besides, the last thing I want to do is give this boon to Yeri and have her wish for my dad’s Helm back. She’d be insufferable.”

“Hey!” Yeri stomped her feet petulantly but made no move to disagree with the daughter of Hades.

“Then it’s settled,” Seulgi said. “Seungwan will be the one to ask for a boon.”

As soon as the words left her mouth their parents walked back into the room, clearly having listened to the entire conversation but leaving the area out of politeness. Sooyoung gently nudged Seungwan forward.

Artemis leveled her daughter with a serious gaze. “What would you ask of us, my child?”

Seungwan cleared her throat, looking back at her friends for comfort before meeting her mother’s eyes. “I have chosen my boon. I know perhaps better than anyone at camp the pain of never knowing where I belong. And I don’t want anyone else to have to feel that way.”

Seulgi’s breath caught in her chest. She knew exactly what Seungwan was asking of them.

“So I ask that all unclaimed demigods at camp learn of their godly parent. And that in the future all demigods that come to camp be claimed within a week of arrival. I-I’m not saying you were in the wrong to wait so long to claim me, Mom. But it really hurt me and no one else deserves to live like that too.”

Artemis opened her mouth as if to speak about why she didn’t claim Seungwan but before she could get a single word out her brother interrupted her.

“Very well, Son Seungwan. We have heard your request and will grant it.” Artemis glared at her brother with pursed lips but nodded all the same.

Outside of the Big House, thunder began to rumble.

“And that’s our cue to leave,” Hermes said sadly, picking up his caduceus and removing his winged hat from the coatrack by the door. “We’ve already overstayed our welcome.”

“Will I ever see you again?” Seulgi blurted out as Apollo brought out his lyre once again. There was still so much more she wanted to ask her father. He smiled kindly at her.

“I will always be watching you, my brave little Dawnbreaker. This fight is only just beginning and you’re the one that will save us all.”

With that last extremely cryptic sentence, the five gods disappeared, the only sign that they were ever here being five tiny scorch marks burned into the wooden floor. Sooyoung broke the silence first.

“Well. That was easier than I thought.”

Still in various states of shock from the sudden parental visit, the five of them walked out of the Big House to head down to the lake so they could talk privately about everything that had just happened. As they walked down the familiar trail, a group of campers suddenly barged past them, muttering things under their breath like “Did you guys hear about the Hermes cabin?” and “I can’t believe it, they must be freaking out right now.”

Seulgi and the others shared a curious look and turned to follow the campers as they jogged down to the Hermes cabin. As she approached her old home, her mouth dropped open.

Standing around the Hermes cabin were a good two dozen campers above whose heads flashed a variety of different symbols. Seulgi spotted a few familiar symbols but there were plenty that she didn’t recognize at all.

“Guys? I think we’re going to need more cabins.”

XXX

**One Week Later**

XXX

“Again!” Joohyun barked from one side of the arena, watching with a practiced gaze as Seulgi disappeared in a flash of golden light only to reappear moments later on the other side of the arena. The last few weeks had brought a lot of changes to Camp Half-Blood, not the least of which was that Joohyun and Seulgi learned that the tether between them allowed them to share each other’s powers. Well, to an extent. Seulgi’s version of “shadow traveling” was a lot brighter than Joohyun’s and had a much smaller impact on her stamina than her girlfriend. They were still working out the kinks.

“Can we take a break, Hyun? We’ve been at this for hours, I don’t wanna overexert myself before the game tonight.” Seulgi sat down in the dirt, panting heavily and remembering just how intense of a teacher Joohyun was. Only now they’d switched from Ancient Greek to the ancient art of battle training. Honestly at least the Ancient Greek didn’t leave her feeling like death warmed over.

Seulgi looked over at Joohyun and leveled her with the best puppy-dog stare she could muster, the corners of her lips turning up in a smile when she saw Joohyun roll her eyes and nod. The daughter of Hades vaulted over the fence and approached her, handing Seulgi an unopened bottle of water.

“I suppose you’re right, we’re gonna need all the help we can get with tonight’s matchup. I still can’t believe Seungwan and Sooyoung ditched us to team up with Tzuyu and the rest of the Athena cabin.”

Seulgi took a long drink of water, enjoying the petulant look on Joohyun’s face. “This is gonna be the first war game since the mass Claiming we had last week, I’m not surprised people want to shake things up. Half the kids in Camp Half-Blood have new powers they want to test out, it’s gonna be a messy game.”

“But having both war gods on the same team? Isn’t that a little unfair?”

“Please, we’ve got the Dawnbreaker on our side,” Seulgi said, pointing to herself proudly.

Joohyun scoffed at Seulgi addressing herself in the third person. “The Dawnbreaker needs to not get over-confident and go take a shower before we head to Yeri’s cabin to talk strategy.”

Seulgi looked down at her sweat-stained armor and sighed. “Good idea. You think our maknae will approve of our plan?”

Joohyun reached her hand out and hauled Seulgi to her feet, brushing the dirt off her pants. “It’s Yeri, of course she’ll approve.”

A couple hours later found both Joohyun and a freshly-showered Seulgi walking up the steps to the Hermes cabin. The game was due to start in a little over an hour and Yeri had called an emergency meeting to go over strategy. Seulgi couldn’t help the little bubble of pride that welled up in her chest as she saw the blonde taking the opportunity to be a leading voice for her cabin.

As she and Joohyun walked inside they spotted Yeri and her siblings huddled around a hastily-drawn (and probably stolen) map of the woods surrounding the camp. Yeri looked up and waved at them before doubling back down on strategy.

“All right, how the hell are we supposed to do this?” the blonde asked, looking down at the various trinkets her cabin mates had drudged up to represent the players from both sides. “I’ve seen Tzuyu and her siblings do this before but I admit I have no clue what to do here.”

“We’re at a huge disadvantage now that Ares AND Athena have teamed up. Not to mention we’ve lost like eighty percent of our previous fighting force thanks to Seungwan,” Chen huffed, though there was no real bite to his words. Truth be told they were all glad to have some floor space back in their cabin.

Joohyun smirked confidently, shooting Seulgi a knowing glance. “Who needs them, Seulgi and I have a strategy that is guaranteed to bring us a win.”

Yeri raised her eyebrows, clearly interested in what the daughter of Hades had to say. “I sense something truly diabolic up your sleeve, unnie. Do tell.”

“Remember when Seulgi summoned my axe when we fought Nyx? It got me thinking. The tether we have connects us, so after talking with Mr. D and Director Kim we came to the conclusion that we could theoretically learn to share each other’s powers.”

“Long story short, I learned how to shadow-travel,” Seulgi interrupted, unable to keep quiet any longer. “Well…sort of. I think Mr.D called it something like Photokinesis.”

Yeri clapped her hands gleefully, having already caught onto the older girls’ plan. She really _had_ trained them well, maybe the Hermes tendency to bend the rules was beginning to rub off on them. “So this means—”

“Yeah. We all know Joohyun’s banned from shadow-traveling to the flag right?” Seulgi paused for dramatic effect until Yeri rolled her eyes and gestured for her to continue.

“But I’m not.”

_Fin._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's given this fic a read or left a kudos or a comment! It's been a long journey and I'm glad I can move this fic into my very tiny pile of completed stories. While I'm a little sad to see this fic come to a close, I'm nowhere near done with this universe yet. And based on a poll I put up on AFF, the second girl group who will get a starring role is...
> 
> I really shouldn't spoil it. But I will.
> 
> Blackpink in your area.
> 
> Until next time. Stan Red Velvet, stan Seulrene and stay healthy! Drache out.


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